Aftermath
by kyuubecky
Summary: Jack and Crow: competing for the gold. Aki:world renown doctor. Rua:semi-pro duelist. Ruka:gold medal gymnist. Yusei:...classified...O.O maybe one-shot...depends on reviews XDXD CLICK ON ME!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note****-N-N-N-NEW S-S-S-STORY! WOOP WOOP! Enjoy and Review.**

Chapter 1-Get Together

"JACK! GET BACK HERE JACK ATLAS!" Crow Hogan followed blond friend towards the coffee shop they had been frequenting since they arrived to duel for the gold. Their runners came to a stop and both of them walked in and greeted Geoff, the owner of the shop who had taken a liking to the two and their "crazy, fire arguments, Yah?", before taking a seat at their own reserved booth.

"So what were you yelling about earlier?" Jack said as he took a sip of the heavy scented coffee.

"We need to go and visit everyone else." Crow spoke slowly as he emphasized each word carefully,

"Why would we do a stupid thing like that?" Crow's eyebrow twitched with his friend irritating façade of being too good for the world all the time.

"Because…"the orange haired man looked down and fiddled with the handle of the cup, something he rarely did. Jack softened visibly,

"You miss Yusei, don't you?"

"Don't YOU? I mean, we all took off and decided to do our own thing and sure it's good for us to go out and "expand our boundaries", but I just felt like…maybe we need to take a break for a while. Y'know, I heard Carly is still refusing to date anyone else since you gave her that "secret" good-bye kiss in the airport." Jack choked on his coffee and glared at his smirking friend, about to erupt with questions and denial, until he saw that the smile didn't reach the familiar gray eyes. Jack slowly smiled back and took another, slower, sip of coffee.

"As if yours with Sherry was absolutely hidden my friend." Crow's mouth hung open. "Oh yes, I'm not blind Crow. Not blind at all," a smile returned to both of their faces, "We can send out the message to everyone and meet back at Yusei's apartment, sound good?" Crow's smile got wider,

"ALRIGHT! WE GET TO SEE HOME AGAIN!" he thrust his fist towards Jack and the tall man struck it with his own.

**POV CHANGE (Rua and Ruka)**

"RUKA! RUKARUKARUKARUKA!" the green haired teen ran as quickly as he could through the large rooms and down the hall to where his sister would practice her gymnastics. Barging in the room, still repeating her name over and over, he caught her off guard and she fell from the beam she was balancing on and into the thickly padded floors below.

"Rua! What are you doing scaring me like that?" she rubbed her shoulder and sent a weak glare over to her twin who grabbed her arm and ecstatically rushed her back to the large screen on the wall where the message Jack and Crow had sent was waiting idly.

"LOOKIT! WE HAVE TO BE READY RUKA! THEIR ALL COMING BACK AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE FUN JUST LIKE WE USED TO!" the boy was like his old self again, bouncing up and down with excitement as the girl tried to ignore him and read the whole message.

"It says that they will come in during our class to "be completely irritating!" and bust us out for the rest of the week!...but they have no idea how to get away with us yet…"

"WHAT DOES THAT MATTER? WE GET TO BE OUT OF SCHOOL WITH EVERYONE AGAIN!" The young girl now joined her brother in their "happy bounce" around the apartment, not caring how childish it made them look to the no one that was around.

**POV CHANGE (Aki)**

"Well, well, Jack and Crow finally write something that doesn't tell a biography of what's going on." The red haired woman shook her head with a light laugh as she continued to read on. "We will bust the twins out of their classes in full uniform to be completely irritating to the teacher and any other authority figure present!...Wow, they haven't changed a bit." She wrote back her acceptance and then typed in "Means of escaping with our fugitives? I have no idea. Sorry" and clicked send.

"What will they come up with next? Taking Rua and Ruka out of their classes with no idea of how to get away with them! Oh, I've missed those two!"

**POV CHANGE (Yusei)**

"No idea of how to escape huh?" the raven haired man sat thinking quietly in his tent, after he sent a message that he would be able to be at his apartment to see everyone, before an idea came to him. Pulling on his hat and shades, he limped out into the blistering heat and approached a group of men that he knew very well. They nodded when he got close and he feigned aggravation only to give in at their shocked expressions and attempts to give more respect. He laughed out loud at them and pulled one of them away by the arm.

"Sir?"

"Churchill, you are my best chopper pilot…can you do something for me?"

"Um, we're all on break sir."

"I know, I'm sorry but this has nothing to do with what we're doing out here." The younger man raised an eyebrow as Yusei told him his plan and in the end the Churchill smiled widely.

"I'll go tell the others!" he started off, "And sir?"

"Yes?"

"Your friends have no idea what you do nowadays?"

"Don't think they could guess it in a very, very long time." Yusei returned to his computer and began to type to Jack and Crow. "Means of escape: acquired...see you guys soon!"

**POV CHANGE (Jack and Crow)/TIME SKIP (2 DAYS)**

"Ok so we all are ready to go and everyone will be there and-" Crow was checking the messages over again until a new one popped up from Yusei. Crow read over the short message again and again, even scrolling down to see if their friend had written anything else, so busy with trying to find something else that he didn't notice Jack had come from behind and also read the message.

"Way to be cryptic Yus."

"I know right?" they sat there staring at the eight words, debating internally whether to respond to Yusei or just go with it.

"Well," Jack clapped loudly, startling Crow, "If he wanted to tell us what he had planned he would have. Just tell the others to be ready f or anything and not to take their runners to the school if they can." Crow sighed as his friend left the room to start packing and began to type up the last message to the others before they left.

**POV CHANGE (3****RD**** PERSON)/TIME SKIP (2 DAYS)**

The twins had been anxious and excited all day. They hadn't ridden their runners, they had taken the bus…something they both vowed to never do again unless ABSOLUTELY necessary and arrived in their uniforms. Rua in his duel team jacket and pants and Rua in her gymnastics sweater and sweat pants, neither caring that they received strange looks as they waited through a little less than half the day before they got to their last class before lunch.

"When?"

"I don't know Rua! Just be patient!"

"NO TALKING!" The older woman who taught the class with "precision and excellence", as told by her banner above the board, turned her cruel eyes to the students, "who was speaking?" no one moved. "Come now, if you don't come forward then the whole class will be punished for your insolence." She peered over her tiny glasses and scanned the room.

"BA-DA-BOOM!"A white boot kicked the door in and three people leapt in, Crow rushed in first and startled the teacher with his loud entry yell, Jack ran up and grabbed Rua and Ruka by their arms and Aki slung the large window open at the other side of the room. The three exited as quickly as they entered with the twins in tow, out into the large sports field, and broke into a dead sprint for the middle of the field. From the classroom they could hear the teacher screeching into the intercom for security to come and retrieve the runaways, and their white uniforms could be seen leaving the building,

"What do we do now?" Aki yelled to everyone else,

"Yus said he'd get us out of here!" Crow yelled back,

"We're gonna be in such big trouble if we get caught!" Rua paced nervously and Ruka tried to calm him down.

"Shh!" Jack froze them all as the security got closer and closer, "Listen!" The semi-distant beating of helicopter blades could be heard steadily getting closer and closer until a pitch black chopper came into view and it hovered over head.

"NO WAY!" Crow yelled even louder now to be heard over the helicopter, "HE GOT THE ARMY TO COME PICK US UP!" they watched as the security group froze a few hundred yards away in shock at the sudden appearance of the army 'copter.

"Hey!" a figure was seen looking over the edge of the bird and three rope ladders were tossed down to the waiting group, they hesitated for a moment and then started to climb up as quickly as possible. The ladders were reeled back into the helicopter and the group strapped themselves in to a soldier with a ski mask with a skull face painted on in white, he was clad in black, with sunglasses on, and wielding multiple semi-automatic weapons.

"THIS is the group?"

"Yes, Ghost it is." A voice from the front caused them to look up that direction but no one was visible due to wide chairs of the pilot and co pilot.

"Two pro duelists, one semi-pro duelist, a doctor, and a gymnast…you got some friends everywhere in the chain don't you Sir." The soldier smiled in a friendly way as he looked over the group of friends again.

"Ok we're clear from the school grounds and no longer at any risk…not that there was much risk anyway…being on the home front and all." The pilot's voice was clear and deep.

"Whatever Churchill, just fly this bird like I hope you can." The pilot called 'Churchill' laughed boldly and grinned at the man next to him.

"Don't worry Sir, I graduated at some point…I think." The two laughed again and 'Ghost' laughed along with them.

"Hey Ghost, switch seats with me, I'm sure Jack and Crow are about ready to strangle you for information." Ghost laughed again, unclipped his belt and stood as the one in front did the same and stepped through the narrow passage way to the back as Ghost stepped to the front.

The man was shorter then Jack, but who isn't, and a little taller than Crow, he wore all black like Ghost but instead of a ski mask he wore a black turtle neck that covered his mouth and nose, he also wore sunglasses and a black ball cap covered his head. Strapped to his back was a large sniper rifle with the initials 'Y.F.' etched into the side. When he moved to sit he swung it off and strapped it to the wall above his head.

"Did Yusei send you guys?" Rua couldn't take the silence anymore even though the exchange had only taken two minutes. The man laughed as he clipped his belt on,

"You could say that Rua!" he pulled off his hat, revealing the black spikes with gold highlights, he pulled the turtle neck down, revealing deeply tanned skin and a marker on his left cheek, and lastly he took of the shades and the smile that was on his lips reached his deep blue eyes. No one spoke as they took in what they were seeing. Yusei had told them he would stay in Neo Domino city and watch over it…they didn't think that he meant that he would do what he said in this way.

"You…you're IN the army?" Crow's voice was low and filled with the shock he felt. Yusei's smile fell as what he feared the reaction would be was coming true. Ghost and Churchill had been chatting happily until they heard the last interaction. The whole helicopter was void of any conversation and the only sound was the beating of the blades that spun above their heads.

"Yeah, Crow. I joined the army a few years back…in fact, not to long after you all left." Jack recovered his voice now,

"WHAT IN BLAZES ARE YOU THINKING! OH WAIT! YOU ARENT THINKING! JOINING THE ARMY YUSEI!" Yusei held up a hand to stop his friend's tirade and fixed a stern glare on him,

"I joined to protect Neo Domino city in a way that dueling cant; I started from the very bottom and worked my way up the chain-"

"Very quickly, if I might add!" Churchill added from the front,

"Until I got to where I am today, I'm the top sniper in the army right now and my squad consists of-"

"YOU'RE SQUAD!" Crow screeched,

"Yes," Yusei spoke slowly, "Consists of Churchill, who is our pilot-"

"TOP pilot!" came his voice again,

"TOP pilot, Ghost whose my…TOP technician and second in command, Bulldog who is my shot gunner, Brains who is my Intel expert, Twitch who is my machine gunner, and myself. We are well rounded and can make good use of any weapon handed to us but we excel in our given titles." His friends remained silent and Aki had still not looked up from her hands which rested in her lap.

"Who are you then?" Ruka tried to smile and Yusei smiled back,

"They call me-"

"SNIPS! SNIPPITY-SNIP SNIPS!"

"YEAH-YAH! SNIPS IS IN DA BACK!" Yusei shook his head at his two men who were continually interrupting them from the front with random information.

"Snips?"

"Cuz he's our best sniper EVAH!"

"Oh dear, Ghost, did Churchill take his meds yet?"

"HEY!"

"I don't think so sir! Should I give them to him?"

"Wait till we land, might be a little safer to do that on stable ground…instead of this high off the ground in a helicopter." The silence filled the helicopter again as Yusei slowly met the gazes of each of his friends. Aki finally looked up,

"You…" she looked down and up again, searching for her voice, "You are careful out there…right?" they all looked to her and even the two up front sobered down. They had antagonized Yusei to no end when they saw Aki in one of the photos he had with him…they knew how he felt about her and vice versa.

"Of course I'm careful Aki."

"I just…don't want to lose you Yusei." She was blushing madly and Yusei looked out to the city they were passing over, the sun catching his eyes and lighting them into a brighter version of the blue they were already.

"Don't worry, I'm careful." He paused and Churchill suddenly laughed,

"Usually."

"Not helping Churchill." The signers looked at Yusei worriedly as they finally realized how he kept all of his weight off his right leg when he came to sit in the back and how his hand now sat protectively over his right knee.

"Well sir you can't hide it, even when you REALLY try to. Just admit that your leg is the reason that Overlord gave us this vacation." Yusei said nothing and Churchill knew to back off,

"Yus," Jack spoke quietly, rare moment for him, "What happened to you?" Said friend looked up and met the gazes of all of them. He opened his mouth to speak but looked out the window,

"We're here."

**Author's Note****- PHEW! SoooOoooOOooo? Should I keep going…I COULD leave it here….but I do have more to go off on. Please review? XDXD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note****-…wow…you guys know how to make an author feel good about a new story! And because you guys are so happy with the first, I shall continue the story! Thank you all for your kind words! XDXD**

CHARACTERS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW- Ghost=second in command – Churchill=pilot and medic – Bulldog=shot gunner – Brains=Intel – Twitch=machine gunner

Chapter 2- Introductions

Yusei carefully slid his sniper rifle back onto his person and took up Ghost's hand to help get out of the helicopter. As he hit the ground, however, he winced and allowed his knee to buckle under his weight in an attempt to keep the pain at a minimum.

"Are you alright Snips?" Yusei had to smile as his squad dropped the irritating formality that came with his position.

"I'll live Ghost…but thanks." The smell of grilling foods and turned to see the other members of his group, that had volunteered to stay behind, preparing a warm meal on the grill. Bulldog, a very large African American man with a quirky smile and a small scar on his cheek, was wearing an apron the read "Kiss the Chef" as he turned some of the burgers and corn that were cooking.

Churchill removed his helmet revealing a young man with deep brown hair and similar colored eyes, getting a look at Bulldog's apron he sauntered and stood uncomfortably close.

"Can I help you?" Bulldog's voice was deep like Churchill's and the younger man smiled as he pointed to the writing. The others started to snicker as Bulldog's irritation melted into horror and he raised the spatula towards Churchill, who, in turn, smiled even wider. "You stay away from now yah loon!" Churchill extended his arms and started forward and the others were now laughing heartily at the sight of Bulldog trying to fend off their friend.

Ghost helped Yusei over to where the others were seated but before they got there a frantic Bulldog ran past them zipping around Yusei at the last possible second and Churchill did not. The two collided and when Churchill opened his eyes, his commander was on the ground under him, unmoving.

"NINNIES! Can't yah go more'n ten MEESLEY minutes without doin' somethin' stupid!" Twitch continued to rant in his heavy Irish accent as Bulldog made his way back to where Churchill was leaning over their leader.

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know. He looks okay and his heart rate is fine…we might've knocked him-

"BWAAAAHHH!" Yusei opened his eyes and yelled so loud that the two soldiers checking on him fell back in shock, leaving him laughing at their expense as the others joined in his joke. Ghost stepped forward and helped Yusei to his feet and he limped over to where his friends had found seats.

"Alright guys…" Yusei's squad were all chatting absently, "Guys…" no one moved, Yusei looked to Ghost who promptly motioned the others to cover their ears and he did so as well before Yusei put two fingers to his lips and sent out a piercing whistle. The squad cringed and attempted to cover their ears as well before turning to face Yusei. "Thank you, now if you all would all please pay a few seconds attention to me…I know, I know, torture.

"This is Jack Atlas, Crow Hogan, Aki Inazinski, and Rua and Ruka." He turned to face his friends,

"You've met Churchill just by listening to him talk, Bulldog is the big man who is trying to save his food from catching on fire, and you've met Ghost, Brains is the one making the smoothies and now smiling…and now scowling at me, and Twitch…our Irish spitfire…he's ALWAYS smiling." Yusei ducked to avoid from being cuffed on the back of the head but was caught in a headlock,

"And this is our own big brained, steady handed, cripple!" They all laughed at that one.

**Author's Note****- again…I apologize for it being sooooo short but hey…I got the title tied in…yeah…sorry…REVIEW.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note****- I wrote this while staying in St. Louis, Missouri! My birthplace… (Sighs dramatically) LOVE it! XDXD**

CHARACTERS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW- Ghost=second in command – Churchill=pilot and medic – Bulldog=shot gunner – Brains=Intel – Twitch=machine gunner

Chapter 3-Spiked Smoothie

The night had closed in on the large group quickly and they sat quietly chatting away about adventures they had had. Presently, Crow was venting out some not-long-gone frustration at getting beaten by some duelist from Russia and yelling about how much the man's accent got to him. Yusei had decided to zone this one out as soon as Twitch jumped in with all of his own crazy stories which he had started with,

"Speakin' ah Russians Laddy..!"…that's when Yusei started to zone out; his knee was throbbing mercilessly and it was all he could do not to moan and try to rub the pain away. He was so focused on staying quiet that he didn't notice the last question that Ruka had asked that caused the whole squad to fall silent and cast wary glances at him. Churchill's…"subtle" coughing brought him back and he skimmed over everyone's expression. Half of his friends looked confused and concerned, the other half wouldn't meet anyone's stare for longer than two seconds but the glances were guarded and unsure of the situation.

"I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"What happened to your leg?" Ruka watched her older friend carefully, "And why are you guys on…"break"?"

"Oh…" he sat up straighter and shifted to face them better, placing a hand on each knee he studied the cement roofing below them before answering softly, "Those questions are one and the same. We are on break because of my injury's…severity; you see, I wasn't expected to be able to walk again-"

"WHAT?" Yusei sighed, he knew they would react that way, Aki saw the internal conflict he was having, most likely on whether to continue or not. She put a hand on his shoulder, earning a coughing fit from the squad, and smiled reassuringly,

"What happened?"

"We were heading in to retrieve one of our informants…in Russia," Crow's eyes flashed at the mention of his rival's home country, "After recovering him; we were heading to the evac site when I noticed a sniper hidden in a tree nearby. I didn't have enough time to aim and shoot, so I tried to dive out of the bullets path, which should've been my head, but instead it nailed me right in the knee." He shook his head to be rid of the memory, "Hurt like nothing else and messed up my whole leg pretty good; my knee-cap was shattered and the tendons had snapped." Yusei looked down as the others cringed; Ghost crossed his arms and pulled off his shades and ski mask, revealing a young British man, clean-shaven and pale blue eyes with honey brown hair, he looked disappointed as his eyes flicked from Yusei to the hand on his knee.

"It's bothering you again." Yusei almost visibly cringed now, Ghost was the one that the General had appointed to watch over his recovery and he took his job VERY seriously. "Don't even try to hide it…you can't: it hurts too much." He smirked as Yusei sighed in submission and began to massage his wounded joint gently, muttering about how as soon as he was healed up he would show the _General_ just how much it hurt.

"What was that I heard, _Captain_ Fudo?" Twitch touched his ear as though in disbelief of what he heard, "Did you just _threaten_ the commander of the whole army?"

"Captain?" Jack looked at his friend curiously, most concern for his friend momentarily pushed aside, "What's that about?"

"That is my rank," Yusei grinned wickedly at the men he was superior to, "And they are _supposed_ to address me as such whenever they even say my name." the squad was completely silent, last time he pulled that line towards them they regretted ever letting him talk them into a more casual relationship with him. That line meant push-ups…a whole LOT of push-ups. Yusei noticed right away that they didn't respond well to what the army used as "punishment" which consisted of boring cleaning jobs; so he came up with the idea of using the cliché push-ups as punishment. Unneeded to be said: it worked very well.

Brains began to grumble in the corner and then glanced over at Yusei and the others, who were staring at him,

"WHAT? I _hate_ doing push-ups sir! A lot!" Yusei chuckled lightly and a playful light was in his eyes,

"Keep on complaining Brains…I'll tack on some more." He then nonchalantly sipped the smoothie.

"I should've spiked your smoothie…" he muttered. Yusei jumped and held the drink away from himself,

"You _spiked_ my smoothie! AGAIN! _WHY_? Why would you do that?" the others began laughing heartily,

"I said I _should_ have spiked it..." the raven haired man sighed with relief, "Like I did last time." Crow turned to his friend, who was tinged red at the moment, barely hiding his own laughter.

"What do you mean 'again'? What happened 'last time'?" Jack looked at all the men who were failing horribly at hiding their laughter as they stared at Yusei.

"I _really_ don't want to talk about it…"

"Aw, c'mon! We wanna know what happened!"

"Yeah, Yus' plus spiked drink equals..?" Crow was emphasizing his words with hand motions, beckoning any of them to continue the story to embarrass their friend. Twitch took up the challenge with a wide grin,

"So we had just met Captain Fudo," he started the tale cautiously throwing Yusei a wicked smile,

"Don't do it if yah know what's good for yah Twitch…" Bulldog muttered as they noticed their captain's dark glare at the storyteller; others joined in with their own warnings,

"You've just started and he already looks like he's gonna kill you!"

"Don't you remember what happened _last_ time you crossed Snips?"

"You've some kinda death wish or som'thin'?"

"We started with zero respect for this guy 'cuz we heard he was more fresh in the army then we were and –" Brains stood suddenly and raised both of his arms with a defensive look on his face,

"_I_ had plenty of respect for Snips! No one gets through to our level that fast for no good reason!"

"Yeah, well you're smart Brains!"

"OI! I'm a-tellin' this blasted story!" the others fell silent again and Yusei, who had hoped this would distract Twitch long enough, returned to glaring the red-head down. "We all decided to- DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK BRAIN-BOY! JUST 'CUZ YOU WERE SMART ENOUGH TO FIGURE OUT HE WAS SOMETHIN TO BE TRIFLED WITH!...that's what I thought. Now. We all decided to mess with the new guy in ways we are notorious for, such as: hand-in-warm-water trick while sleeping, stuffing the pillows with mud, move him while he's sleeping onto the roof…and our favorite: spiking the first smoothie he gets from us." He paused to see the other's responses to their…welcome gifts…utterly satisfying.

"You can still shut your mouth now…or I'll show _you_ what _I_ can do with a smoothie…" Yusei's voice was low and threatening, but at the same time playful and making no attempt to forcefully stop his friend.

"Sadly, we only managed to get him with the spiked drink…we learned our lesson at the first prank…" The whole squad avoided everyone's gaze; shuddering visibly… "BUT! We did get some real good laughs outta that drink!"

"Twitch…"

"You see when we gave it to him with all smiles, he was very guarded but, being a polite man that we _all_ know him to be, he took it and graced us with a smile. He took a sip…he liked it…he took another…and another, and before we knew it he drank the whole thing and became the funniest, tipsy lad I ever did see! And believe me! Where I come from we get _tipsy_ and your friend Yusei was _TIP-SY!_" He stood up and began to imitate the peeved raven-haired captain by stumbling about to the great entertainment of the others.

Yusei took the taunting well for a good amount of time but Twitch's antics got to him eventually,

"Twitch!" his voice took on a powerful tone without exceeding his usual volume, "Front and center!" Said soldier suddenly sobered and was hesitant to approach his commanding officer, even more so because Yusei's wicked grin was once again splitting his face. "Ghost, get me a _big_ bowl." His second in command looked confused for a moment but did what he was told while the others began to snicker at Twitch's uncomfortable wariness.

When Ghost returned with a large metal bowl Yusei nodded his thanks and then turned sternly to the Irishman and motioned for him to get down. Obeying cautiously, he got down in a perfect position for push-ups and then Yusei took it further.

Placing the large bowl under Twitch's face, he hobbled over to the blender where a large amount of smoothie was still there and poured it into the bowl. Filling it to the brim. He stepped back as the squad began to taunt the red-head and then said,

"I want fifty…and then we'll see if I'm feeling gracious." With that he walked over and sat cross-legged on Twitch's back; making sure there was enough strain to force the man to get low enough. "Begin."

As he lowered himself down his face became completely submersed in the bowl of chilled fruit smoothie and when he came back up his facial features were hidden under a thick layer of pink drink. He paused to shake the smoothie away but Yusei poked the top of his head,

"You still have forty-nine to go…_laddie_." And so Twitch went on. Grudgingly dunking himself in a cold bowl of smoothie until his sentence was done and the others were doubled over with laughter.

"Well Captain Fudo?"

"Hm?"

"Are you satisfied?"

"…I dunno…"

"Aw c'mon! My face is about to fall right off of me face sir!" Yusei smiled and cautiously began to step off, but Twitch tipped himself side-ways and Yusei stumbled and an audible crack was heard as his bad leg made impact. His face lightened a few shades but he didn't utter a sound; he turned and smiled his wordless forgiveness at the horrified man and deftly shoved his face back into the bowl of smoothie.

The waves of pain and nausea assaulted him then and the world entered a tunnel before quickly fading to black.

**Author's Note****- And by these last words I have returned home to Florida and am entering this into fanfiction for my readers to…read. Hehe. (SLEEP DEPRIVED) XDXD**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note****- Sorry about that…extended break…I've been kinda lost all around the world in my head…trying to find decent inspiration. So here I am, now leaving South Carolina and Georgia (our second road trip) and returning to my wonderful Floridian home…slowly. ENJOY! XD**

CHARACTERS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW- Ghost=second in command – Churchill=pilot and medic – Bulldog=shot gunner – Brains=Intel – Twitch=machine gunner

Chapter 4- Determination

"Captain!" Ghost was almost as pale as Yusei as he caught the limp form of the raven haired man in his arms. His breathing was heavy and labored as he tried to deal with pain at the same time as trying to return to consciousness; Twitch was pulling himself out of the smoothie bowl all humor and irritation in his eyes forgotten, everyone had seen the forgiveness in Yusei's eyes but he felt terrible for his part in this accident. Ghost gently lowered the captain into a comfortable position and moved to allow Churchill the space he needed.

The young medic pulled the fabric up to see the knee; the brace was carefully removed and he carefully began to unravel the now bloody bandages when he hesitated. Turning to the group that waited with baited breath behind him,

"If any of you are squeamish…" he trailed off letting the option hang and moved back to his friend, if they thought they could handle this was up to them. He began to remove the last few layers of bandages when Twitch reached into a bag behind the bar counter and pulled out a stack of towels. Together they placed the thickest few under Yusei's leg and left the rest in a water bowl Ghost had brought over or off to the side for future needs.

The last layer of bandages were red and slick with blood as Churchill swore under his breath quickly placed one of the small wet towels onto the newly opened hole the leg. Applying a good amount of pressure he sent Bulldog to get his medical bag out of the helicopter, he let Twitch hold the towel that was quickly turning red with as he reached for another.

Yusei moaned softly and his eyes flickered underneath the lids as he fought for consciousness.

"Ghost. Talk to him." Churchill commanded, no one questioned him on orders no matter who received them when they were helping him with a patient.

"Hey Captain, Can you hear me in there?" he was rewarded with a moan that turned into a harsh hiss of pain as another towel was added to his wound. Pain filled cerulean eyes met his calm gaze,

"Ghost?" the strained whisper caused the man he had addressed to flinch. Bulldog had returned with the bag and the two men working on his leg removed the towels quickly and began to clean the wound causing Yusei to give a strangled cry. Ghost rested a hand on his leaders chest and felt the racing heart pound underneath,

"Easy Yusei…just try and slow your breathing." Sweat was forming and Yusei was growing paler as seconds ticked by, "Churchill, he doesn't look good." The medic chuckled from his spot where he was wrapping new bandages on Yusei's leg surprising everyone.

"You expected him to look…how?" Ghost forced a laugh and the tension around eased up; if the young medic was joking then the Captain must not be in any real danger.

"Yah really Ghost," Yusei's voice made them all jump, it was as if nothing had happened, all the strain was gone, and "I wouldn't expect my leg to suddenly get better all of a sudden just because I tore my stitches."

"How'd you know that's what happened Snips?" Churchill said as he strapped the brace back on tight enough to support but loose enough to avoid causing pain.

"I think that I've torn so many of them I've memorized what it feels like now."

"If that's true then have you memorized how broken ribs feel? Or concussions? How about a bullet wound? Stab wound?" Ghost began numbering the memories on his fingers as Churchill helped the young man off the ground,

"Okay, okay Ghost!" Yusei was standing now and playfully shoved the man, "Enough! We get it!"

"Just because what you lack in self preservation when there are others around you make up for in self sacrifice!" Ghost poked Yusei accusingly in the chest as he spoke, Yusei grabbed his finger and gave a half-hearted glare but a mirthful smile played with his lips,

"I seem to remember shoving you out of the bullet's path…and one of the blades for that matter!"

"Oh…ha-ha" Ghost pulled his finger free and scratched the back of his head, "Right! I forgot."

"You forgot." Yusei paused between the words as if speaking to someone very slow.

"Yeah, I mean it was **so **long ago and all…" the fire that had started to burn in his Captain's eyes washed away as he saw the mirth in the other's, he playfully cuffed the man on the back of the head,

"We need to do something with that memory of yours Ghost! If it's already failing you now then I'd **love** to see it in a few more decades!"

TIME SKIP (1 WEEK)

The kitchen was dark, but with the little furniture in Yusei's apartment (A.N.-not the one from the show! He got a new one…bigger) it was easy to maneuver around without the risk of bumping into something.

Crow sat in the darkened room sipping at the tea he had made to try and ease his mind to sleep…it wasn't working. He had announced that he was tired and headed off to bed seven hours ago, but sleep had evaded him the moment he had lain down on the bed, his body was ready for sleep but his mind and heart wouldn't let him rest. Something was hiding behind all of the soldiers smiles, their words spoke of a common injury for their friend, which was worrisome enough if it was **so** common, but their eyes told another story.

From very early on Crow learned to read through the eyes, Jack as well picked up on it, it was the only way to really "talk" to Yusei when he first came to Martha's…they had become very good at doing it and he eventually opened up and began speaking. Crow was snapped from his train of thoughts when he heard someone else coming through the hallways and approaching the kitchen where he sat.

Jack's tall form filled the open doorway and he didn't look surprised to see Crow or vice versa,

"Was wonderin' when you were gonna come down."

"I kept trying a little longer…anything left?" the tall blonde motioned towards the teapot.

"Yeah." The pause was filled with the soft sounds of Jack sitting down across from Crow and pouring himself a cup of tea but nothing filled the silence that followed that. Finally they both sighed a little louder then intended,

"You know there is more going on then they have cared to tell us." It wasn't a question and Crow didn't take it as one,

"Yeah, problem is: the army is very technical about what they can and can't say to people outside of the army, and with Yus being in one of the most undercover regiments…well there's no telling what will happen if either they told us or we piece it together." Crow put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes, it was so frustrating to know something is wrong but unable to do anything to help it let alone pinpoint it.

"I hate it too." Jack's voice was low and dark, "It makes me feel helpless." Crow's head snapped up and he gaped at his friend. This admission was bad coming from Jack; he truly felt that they had one option and if it didn't work then there was no other hope for the situation. "I'm not letting Yusei leave this building without answering my questions." The purple eyes blazed with determination, what he said he vowed.

**Author's Note****- …I love you guys…feeling…sentimental…ew. XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note****- sorry about the wait…lacking inspiration…and time. But I'm trying to make everyone a bit happier soooo here's the next one! Any ideas for other missions/pranks gone perfectly/wrong let me know! XD**

CHARACTERS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW- Ghost=second in command – Churchill=pilot and medic – Bulldog=shot gunner – Brains=Intel – Twitch=machine gunner

Chapter 5- Goodnight and Goodbye

The night had passed uneventfully for Yusei; he felt well rested and made quick work of going down the stairs. '_Tearing those stitches was the best I had done! It is healing much faster now and…ooooh boy…_' his train of thought slammed to a halt as he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw all of his squad tied up and bound to several chairs with what appeared to be several layers of duct tape. They started to yell as best they could with their mouths covered, but their shouts were in vain as Yusei continued into the room.

As he looked from one to the other, he saw in their eyes an open apology and a warning; confused, he looked to the shadowed wall behind the chairs, Jack, Crow, and Aki were all standing there watching him nonchalantly, which was an omen in itself.

"What the heck guys?" the squad looked at him and the air became thick with tension, "You are supposed to be the best of the best and I come in to find you captured by my friends and held back with _duct tape_?" Yusei kept his tone incredulous and Twitch, the only one without duct tape over his mouth because he was seated right in front of Jack, caught on to the tell-tale look in the young captain's eyes,

"That is exactly _how_ we were caught Captain! They are your _friends_ Laddy! _ALLIES!_ We didn't expect this from them!" he tried to turn in his chair to reach the hidden blade they all kept in hidden pocket in their sleeves, while at the same time trying to motion to Yusei to run.

"Yes well, they are _very_ devious, I can only imagine that are more so nowadays." Yusei chuckled softly, but a voice behind him made him stop.

"You have no idea." It was Ruka who had whispered as Rua had quickly strapped his legs together, Yusei was startled but didn't fight back; he wouldn't risk hurting anyone, so he allowed the twins to lead him to a chair of his own and layer him down into the seat with three more rolls of duct tape.

Crow, Jack, and Aki stepped out from the shadows with satisfied smirks adorning their faces and sat down on the couch that all of the chairs semi circled around.

"I thought you guys would suspect them enough to pull _something _crazy."

"Again, they're your friends, Snips." Twitch's almost inaudible whisper was just that, _almost_ inaudible, "If anyone should've expected somethin', it shoulda been you."

"I haven't seen them in a few years."

"We only met them a few nights ago." the soldier shot back. Yusei sighed, it was an argument he couldn't win so he let it go.

"Yeah, I should've seen something like this coming…yeah." Jack and Crow stepped in front of me,

"Speak."

"…Hello there! I'm Yusei Fudo! How are you?" they both rolled their eyes and cocked an eyebrow at me. "What?"

"You know 'what' Yus'."

"I spoke!" I knew what they wanted: back-story. But that was something I wasn't ready to relive just yet.

"Yusei Fudo!" Aki spoke up from the back, "Do I have to call Martha?" I paled as my brothers smirked and my squad looked at me, shocked with how I must have looked. Jack and Crow stepped to the side and revealed determined looking Aki with her cell phone ready at hand and her finger on the speed-dial button.

"Don't. Do. That." She made as if she were to apply pressure to the horrid button, "Please!" They all stopped as the pain in my voice was evident. My squad instantly snapped to attention and began trying to speak through the tape while looking to Twitch, who almost had his knife. "I can't deal with the memories of what happened then right now." I bowed my head. Defeated and terrified as the memories hit me again and again. Everyone was silent but watching, thinking of what to say next.

"You need to speak of it Captain." I could sense that everyone had now turned their shocked glances towards Ghost. How he had gotten free? …I'll ask later. Right now I was dealing with my failure…what I thought I had lost. How could I tell them what happened? How could they know what I'm feeling? Wrenching pain shredded away at my heart, all that's left is a messy pulp of loss, agony, and self-condemnation. "You need to free your conscious of whatever is eating you away." He was in front of me now and tilted my chin up, "You think we didn't notice? You drank virtually nothing for almost two weeks when we got back and it took you even longer to start eating again…" his eyes softened as he began releasing me from the tape,

"What happened to you Captain Yusei Fudo? When you went M.I.A. for three months, what happened to you?" It was time to relive my death.

XOXOXO

_My lungs burned as the fumes of engine fuel filled them and I kept my reflective shades on the whole ride over. 'They have him. They have him. They have him.' I thought over and over and over again. _

_On our last 'outing', Bulldog was taken hostage. Our mission: break in and free him, destroy the encampment if we could, but Bulldog was our priority._

_As soon as we were dropped off at the base of the mountain, the fog setting in and moon hid in the clouds, we all nodded to each other, no words were needed, and spread out. Our silent tread would be heard by no human over the natural sounds in the woods, dogs were another story, but this base, according to recon, had no dogs._

_The chill of winter had a lot more biting here, and as we worked our way deeper into the forest and fog, our outer clothes became damp and frosted over giving us the perfect camouflage for our dark, snowy surroundings; a trilled whistle from my front and to the left. It resembled that of a Northern Cardinal. My squad's signal for "all clear"; I was about to answer the call when a snap to my left froze me in place and I slowly pulled out the long knife I __**always **__carry. We wanted this to remain completely silent and guns with silencers could still be heard if my newest enemy had a partner; the metal held no shine, personally took care of that, and was coated with a potent drug that would kill someone in seconds; quick and quiet. That was for those "I missed a vital point!" moments…hn… __**rare**__ moments._

_Another snap and I slowly lowered myself and blended into the snow at my feet; instead of the "all clear" I returned with the Barred Owl, or our signal for "slight delay". I knew they would all hold their position and give me a few minutes to respond back with the cardinal signal soon before turning back to check on the situation, so I pulled out a thick clothe and inched towards the area where I heard the sound. Breathing through my mouth and to my stomach in order to make my breathing completely silent, I readied my knife and clothe, and steeled myself as a vague, dark form became easily seen in the fog. I knew by his strangely colored uniform that he wasn't one of mine, so I inched closer and closer and then waited._

_The opportune moment came when one of my men gave a questioning cardinal call once more and my target turned his head to peer over his shoulder. He never saw me or my blade and I knew he would no longer be a threat to any of us; taking the clothe I quickly placed it over the slashed throat and wiped my knife off on the opposite side leaving nothing to stain the metal. _

_Quickly, I returned the cardinal signal and moved forward confidently yet cautiously; not ready to say there were no other threats but ready and able to handle anybody who came my way. A steel building came into view, no windows but two doors: one for personnel and the other, much larger and most likely heavier, for shipments of equipment. Only two windows were on the entire structure and they were on the third floor; no cameras around due to the fact that they would short-circuit too quickly and in this fog even the best heat sensors wouldn't pick up even the slightest traces. So they had a few patrols circling about the structure instead,_

_ "What can we do?" Twitch muttered softly from his perch in the nearby pine tree that we all climbed as quickly as possible, none of us wanted Bulldog to spend another second in that steel monster._

_ "We can either scale the building and risk a lot of noise or we can find some way to repel over to one of the windows. We will have to time either plan strictly due to the patrols." I responded just as quietly,_

_ "Or…" we all looked to Churchill, "Or you could take them out, we hide the bodies, steal, their clothes and sneak in?" it was a good idea but one flaw,_

_ "Churchill…do you know how to speak Russian?"_

_ "Yes. You?"_

_ "Of course."_

_ "So what's wrong?" he cocked an eyebrow._

_ "…nothing actually…you guys up for this?"_

_XOXOXO (having fun with GOOGLE TRANSLATE: try it! Type in what I wrote here and put it in the language mentioned! You can hear what it sounds like TEEHEE!_

_I held my breath from some of the highest branches of the pine tree we were all in just minutes before; the others were on the ground now, waiting for the two bodies to drop down so we could steal their clothes. Slowly releasing my breath and bringing the scope up to my eye, I aimed for the first target's head and again inhaled and exhaled slowly watching to study their usual movements. Then taking a steady inhalation I perfected my aim and pulled the trigger. Once. _

_ Twice not even two seconds after the first. Their heads snapped back and they slumped into the snow. I saw their bodies get slung over my men's shoulders while the other two brushed the bloody snow under fresh white snow and rubbed and shaped it until it looked like nothing but another mound of snow. _

_ Swinging down from the branches cautiously as they were wet and slicked with ice, I dropped the last few feet and landed with a heavily muffled thud just in time for Twitch to throw a bundle of clothes at me. _

_ "Me accent o'mine will give me away before but three words have left me mouth. 'Sides, you know enough of their pretty language don't yah laddie?" he was smiling brightly at me as he slid the hat of the one of the men I just shot over my eyes. "Go on! Get changed!"_

_XOXOXO_

_Churchill and I approached casually holding our enemies weapons pointed down like the ones that held them before did. Mimicry is so easily done but the real challenge lay in getting beyond the door with two guards standing on either side. The taller, paler man on the left addressed Churchill first with a slight nod as we approached,_

"Все, что по периметру на этот раз? (Anything on the perimeter this time?)" the Russian man had a deep voice his friend on his left is the one I was worried about…he didn't look Russian.

"Нет, ничего. Просто снег, лед, и деревья. Это очень скучно да? (No, nothing. Just snow, ice, and trees. This is very boring yes?)" Churchill answered perfectly.

„ Ano, je. Jediný důvod, proč jsem tady proto, že jako rukojmí ještě nemluvil.(Yes it is. The only reason I'm still here is because the hostage hasn't spoken yet.)" Definitely not Russian; this man was speaking Czech and I **knew **Churchill was starting to get nervous under his mask: he didn't know Czech,

"On brzy. On chce-li žít pro další den. (He will soon. He will if he wants to live for another day.)" I hurriedly answered, thankful for the masks we wore and the fact that I had thrown myself into studying languages before I went on any missions. While Churchill looked to me and said a silent thank you with his eyes, the man seemed happy that I spoke his tongue and appeared to lighten his mood,

"Je dobré slyšet můj jazyk od jiné osoby, znovu! Jaké je vaše jméno chlapce? (It is good to hear my language from another person again! What is your name boy?)"

"Imrich je to, co mi volal, jak se jmenujete pane? (Imrich is what I am called, what is your name sir?)"

"Bohumir. Já jsem obvykle na starosti dělat rukojmí mluvit, ale hlupák nechce sdílet své znalosti s námi. (Bohumir. I am usually in charge of making the hostage talk, but the fool doesn't want to share his knowledge with us.)" I smirked but felt sick in doing so, but we needed to get by; on the inside I was cringing and vomiting at the twisted hand that held our friend.

"Jsem si jistý, že se porouchá brzy se setkáte. (I'm sure he will break down soon with you experience.)" The Czech man smiled with pride at my compliments as the two door gaurds stepped aside and allowed us access to the prison that was holding Bulldog.

As soon as we were in and had checked the immediate area and any rooms on this floor we knocked on the door we just entered and Bohumir and his russian friend both looked in with confused expressions but those would never change again as Churchill and I rammed our knifes into their hearts.

"Dobrou noc a sbohem (Goodnight and goodbye Bohumir.)" I just knew that when we found Bulldog that I would never regret what I just said.

**Author's Note****- You all should love me! It is Christmas Eve and I'm writing LEGIT RUSSIAN AND CZECH for you all! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!**

**Cardinal- .com/watch?v=3pNQ3as6wDM **

**Barred Owl- .com/watch?v=fppKGJD3Y6c **


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note****- well here we are again! Due to the review from **Fanboy123 ()** I will come up with a name for the crew, I'll put up a poll for you all and if you don't like the ones that I put up then let me know GIVE ME IDEAS! The songs are "Lullaby for a Stormy Night" by Vienna Teng and "May It Be" by Enya (LORD OF THE RINGS!). they are beautiful (and are on my ipod) makes me smile!**

CHARACTERS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW- Ghost=second in command – Churchill=pilot and medic – Bulldog=shot gunner – Brains=Intel – Twitch=machine gunner

Chapter 6- Little Brother

_We moved quickly with hiding the bodies, not wanting to be too late to save Bulldog; Ghost, Brain, and Twitch were all waiting a short distance from the door for us to give the signal. I nodded to Churchill and he went to the door, opened it, and whistled once,_

_ "So where did you learn to speak Czech?" Churchill spoke as we quickly spread out throughout the basement, searching for our comrade._

_ "Back on the home-front; I made myself study every language I could find so that I would never find myself unable to understand what someone was saying. Needless to say: it comes in very handy."_

_ "You can say that again." Churchill muttered._

_ "Oi! Lads I've found a locked door!" Twitch was standing next to the door with his hand on the knob. _

_ "Go ahead and get started Twitch." He nodded once to me and began to pick the lock and within seconds the door clicked and we opened it quickly with guns pointing and fingers on the trigger, but what we saw made us smile and lower our weapons. _

_ "Took yah long 'nough." Bulldog was standing near the door, probably had jumped back with our sudden entry, but now he crossed his bruised arms and smirked through his split lip._

_ "We could have just waited a few more minutes and let you figure out how to escape on your own." Churchill spoke with a false pout._

_ "Yep." Bulldog returned with taunting, "Didn't need YOUR help at all." Churchill snorted,_

_ "Ungrateful giant."_

_ "Birdbrain." The rest of us just rolled our eyes and shook our heads; Bulldog was fine if he and Churchill were exchanging their usual taunts. Said soldier tossed Bulldog a Stakeout and nodded his head in the other's direction,_

_ "Remember: this side with the opening doesn't point towards you."_

_ "Right." Churchill turned with a smirk, "It points at you." Bulldog smirked right back when his friend whirled around and threw a glare his way._

_ "Alright __**Lassies**__," they both glared at Twitch, "If you two would be done with your bickering I'd like to be leaving now." They kept glaring but joined with the rest of us as we exited the steel structure._

_XOXOXO_

_Bulldog was more hurt then he had originally let on, but he wasn't about to stop plowing through the snow towards our evac sight. We eventually reached a clearing where I stopped, someone was watching us. Two years of sniping on this squad had hard wired my senses for these moments; the ones I'm sure every target I have ever shot has felt…_

_ "Snips? You alright?" Ghost had stopped the others when he noticed I was no longer following, "Snips answer me bro."_

_ "Someone is here." The other's stiffened; I looked above us into the trees. To the right…then the left…a familiar flash of light caught my eye and I quickly turned, but before I could shout my warning explosive pain shot through my side. The other's screaming my name was muffled and the world swam in red then to black._

_XOXOXO_

_ "Slowly…slowly…alright hold him down." The world was cold, very cold. Fiery pain lanced up my side with a disgusting sucking sensation and I couldn't help but give voice to the agony, my body was being held down into the coldness with iron clamps and I'm sure that if it wasn't for them I would be writhing right now. _

_The cold didn't really help but it provided some distraction. 'Snow, you are lying in the snow.' My mind supplied me with the information but not the reason why, I started to try and open my eyes when I hand placed itself on my brow._

_ "Yusei? You there?" Churchill's deep voice was pulling me to the light for which I was grateful, but I was unprepared for the pain to attack with such ferocity. I gasped as my eyes shot open and a deep moan escaped my throat; five faces appeared above me; each one worried and strained in appearance. I wanted to get up, to keep moving to where we are supposed to be, but as soon as I lifted myself two inches I gasped again at the pain before two pairs of hands were lowering me back down into the laying position I woke up in. _

_Another moan slipped past my lips and I felt myself writhe as the pain didn't leave._

_ "Easy there laddie," Twitch had placed a hand on both of my shoulders and was holding my firmly, "You got hit pretty nasty back there so don't be moving about too much." I opened my eyes, which I don't remember ever closing, and saw the older man looking down at me with his green eyes. _

_ "I got hit?" the green eyes got wider before becoming gentle once more when I hissed as Churchill tightened the bandages._

_ "Aye Laddie, you got hit right in the side, hit two o'your ribs, and got lodged in pr'tty tight. But Churchill managed to get the blasted thing out'o'you so you got nothing to worry 'bout."_

_ "We…need to move." My voice was strained and I could feel my strength slipping, Churchill started to shake his head from where he kneeled next to the wound but he stopped when I grasped his forearm, "We need to move before I'm unable to." His deep eyes darkened with worry, but he nodded in agreement._

_ "Alright, but if it hurts too much and we need to stop then speak up, got it Captain Fudo?" I nodded knowing I would probably push myself anyway and Ghost was instantly next to Twitch and both of them were waiting for the other. Sighing, I raised my arms and grasped both of their shoulders and began to hoist myself up on my own; starting, they gripped my own shoulders and began to lift and support my weight. _

_ "Snips? Are you alright?" Ghost was definitely having one of his internal-soon-to-be-external meltdowns that he always seemed to have whenever anyone got hurt._

_ "Fine Ghost…don't freak out on us yet." My voice was strained horribly as each agonizingly slow step sent tendrils of molten steel up my side,_

_ "As long as you don't die on us yet." My second muttered darkly, my laugh at that was quiet and almost hollow. Twitch looked over my shoulder to Ghost and I knew they were both thinking that the pain was getting to me…looking back…it was. Ghost looked at me sternly; I could read his expression through the mask and glasses because of the longer time I had known him, "I'm serious Captain." I stopped, his tone brokered no joking, that and laughing just added more pain to the already surplus I had._

_We travelled in silence for a few moments, Churchill behind me while Bulldog and Brains took point; I fought a moan that was waiting at the back of my throat. But I couldn't help but release a cry when we hit an unseen ice-patch in the snow and I slipped, jolting my wound harshly. Panting to fight the sense as Twitch and Ghost patiently held me steady with an tightened grip; when the level had gone down to a more bearable level, I gave a weak nod and we began again._

_XOXOXO_

_ "Stop." Churchill ordered from the back after a good two hours of walking and, unfortunately slipping,_

_ "Why are you stopping us Churchill? Checkpoint isn't much farther." I spoke quietly in the darkness that was quickly settling as it does during the winter season._

_ "You've bled through the bandages Captain." He matched my tone but his voice was laced with concern whereas my own was filled with fatigue. "If I let you keep going then Ghost and Twitch would eventually have to just carry you." The second line was more of a persuasive argument since they knew that I would try and force my will if I could pull it off._

_Immediately, my two helpers gently lowered me to the ground and, as the wound contracted and stretched with the movement of my body, a weak groan slipped out and I reached my hand to clutch the area._

_ "No Captain, don't touch it." Churchill had slipped into his medic mode, where he took on a gentle, patient tone as he took my wrist and placed it at my side. He quickly pulled back the layers of warm clothing and sucked in a breath when he reached the bandages; I was trying to relax by leaning my head into the snow and closed my eyes, breathing deeply to slow my body's systems down._

_Any adrenaline that had been blocking the pain was now completely gone and now that I was no longer moving to distract myself from the remaining pain; it could unleash its full-fledged attack. The sharp burning sensation that centered on the bullet's trail was in blunt contrast to the shivering sensation that the rest of my body felt. A hand rested on my forehead when a harsh cough had caught me off guard and turned into a soft moan,_

_ "Yusei?" I slowly reopened my eyes and met Churchill's deep brown ones which were overflowing with worry, "You still with us?"_

_ "I'm still here." My words were slightly slurred and the hot and cold war within me was beginning to make me feel very tired. The brown eyes above mine flinched at how I sounded,_

_ "Try not to fall asleep yet ok?" his voice had taken on a tone of sudden panic, but I couldn't piece together the reasons…_

_ "Whatever you say Churchill." He flinched again as my voice trailed off and motioned to someone to come over as I slid my eyes closed again. In all fairness, I did try and stay awake…but…the darkness didn't hurt and I would really try not to fall completely asleep._

_XOXOXO_

_My cheek was very warm…not both, just the left one… I think that is what woke me up: I've been trying to figure out why it was just the one cheek. I tossed my head away from the warmth and huffed with irritation at the slow pace I was waking up at but it probably sounded more like a groan. There was a quiet shuffling noise and, as I waited, I realized that I never meant to fall asleep in the first place. I peeled my eyes open when a soft touch probed my latest wound; Churchill was focused on cleaning the wound, which, from what I felt, was infected and painful._

_I remained quiet until he was forced to run the clothe over the whole thing in its entirety; hissing with the sudden onslaught of feeling I turned my head and saw that they had built a nice fire and would explain the warmth on my one cheek, but that seemed unimportant as I tried to push past the burning sensation._

_ "Yusei? Are you awake?" I looked back and saw the young medic watching me intently, studying the look in my eyes and reading my pain and tiredness like a first grade level book._

_ "Yes." I had finally found enough of my voice to answer the poor man," where are we?" His shoulders sagged in relief but the concern still hid in the depths of his dark eyes,_

_ "We made it to the rendezvous point, sir. Bulldog and Twitch carried you the whole way…you're burning with fever and the wound hasn't finished cleaning out…"he rarely trails off unless he was unsure of what I was going to say or if I would approve. I put my hand on his shoulder as best as I could from my position on the ground,_

_ "What happened?"_

_ "The whole base here…its…it's destroyed." Not what I was expecting at all,_

_ "What do you mean Churchill?" praying that I heard him wrong, I watched as he looked to the others, who I knew were watching, for support._

_ "The tents and supplies, they're all torn apart."_

_ "Wild animals?" even as I offered this idea Churchill was shaking his head._

_ "No sir, there are no other traces that would even hint at animals; that and there are traces of gunfire all around."_

_ "So Grizzly Squad is-" I didn't want to finish the thought, Grizzly squad was fairly new but they were highly skilled, but there was one person in this squad…that I knew and trained with._

_ "They're dead." Ghost spoke quietly from the other side of the fire, his tone broken and weak. He stood and sat next to me, "We found a man-made ditch where they were buried." His face was that of a professional poker player from a distance, but I knew that up close he would show the heart ache he was in because he was crushed inside: his older brother was in that ditch._

_ "I wish I could say I know what it's like my friend." He shook his head softly and I realized that he had neither his mask nor glasses on as normal. His eyes were red-rimmed and tracks went down his cheeks; it tore my heart out to see him like this._

_XOXOXO FlASHBACK WITHIN A FLASHBACK (INCEPTION) XOXOXO_

_Ghost is two years younger than I and I was close friends with his brother when I met him. Albeit the first time we met was when I first joined when I was eighteen and his brother the same, Ghost was still sixteen and too young to legally enter, but he came to wish his brother off and promised to join us both when he was older. _

_The months before we were called into the battle itself, Kyo, the older brother, and I spent time with Ghost. I liked the kid but wasn't sure if he really cared for me being there at all. I thought that way the whole time until the night of our departure, Ghost had already told his brother goodbye, he pulled me aside and embraced as he had done before to Kyo._

_ "Don't go and get yourself killed before I get there 'kay?" I laughed as he buried his head into the crook of my shoulder, "I mean it. Kyo's squad is already full and you don't know where they will put you so save me a spot " I returned the embrace to, what felt like, my little "brother",_

_ "I promise Ghost, (he had already chosen the name he wanted to be called by) I'll save you a spot in my squad." He pulled back to make sure I was being serious, "You focus on school right now and I'll keep Kyo alive for you to show him up when you can come." He smiled through his tears,_

_ "Keep yourself alive too!" my flight was being called and I head the Sergeant yelling my name._

_ "Got to go. If you see Aki…" he smiled as he knew about my crush,_

_ "I'll tell her you said 'hi'."_

_XOXOXO End XOXOXO_

_ "You do understand in a way Yus'." The use of my nickname let me know he __**needed**__ a brother right now. "I heard about Kiryu," I flinched at that memory, "and…I heard about…um" I looked to him, Ghost NEVER said 'um'. He looked away and mumbled something,_

_ "What was that?" I dreaded what he would say, seeing as it made him turn away his eyes._

_ "I heard about your…about your parents." Ouch. That memory hurt a ton more then whatever Churchill had been doing and I let my eyes glaze over as my mind turned back time. I sighed softly, fully knowing that the others were listening quite intently to what was going to be said. Though we all knew each other very well, there were chapters of my life that I always left out of the equation, like my parents for that matter. My squad asked once and they knew that it was something I don't ever like to bring up, not for embarrassment but the pain that comes with the memory._

_ "All I know is that they died while you were young Captain! Nothing more! Kyo said you didn't like to talk about it." He spoke quickly, probably trying to pull me from my memories._

_ "Its…Its alright. What matters right now is that you're hurting." My eyes came back into focus and the images of Mom and Dad faded back into white mist, "We're going to give Kyo a proper burial." His eyes watered until the tears brimmed over,_

_ "Don't worry Laddy," Twitch's soft fatherly tone came, him being the oldest we all looked to him __for "fatherly advice". "We be goin' and gettin' 'im and we'll make a right good burial for the older lad." He nudged Bulldog and the two left to get Kyo._

_ "Try not to overdo it, but you can move around again Yus'." Churchill was barely audible. He helped me into a sitting position before joining Brains to dig proper graves for the four soldiers._

_I looked at my little brother; he was pale and worn just in the matter of hours. The tears didn't stop but remained consistent; he looked at me and back down at his hands repeatedly, never holding my gaze for more than two seconds. His breathing was hitched with the sobs that shook his shoulders until he hung his head and let the tears drip of his nose instead,_

_ "C'mere kiddo." Ghost looked so much more like the sixteen year old again when his tear stained face met mine a second time and he took in my open arms and knowing expression; without hesitance he buried his face into my shoulder like the day Kyo and I left and cried himself out._

_XOXOXO_

I had spoken pretty much all day, only taking breaks when someone needed to use the restroom or when we all ate our meals. The story was just beginning however, I hadn't answered the original questions yet but this was information needed to understand the rest of the tale.

Rua and Ruka had released us all hours ago and I was comfortable on the four-seat sofa, but now it was getting dark out and I'm sure we were all tired. The story could wait till tomorrow if it had waited this long. I listened intently to the soft noises all about the room, no one was speaking which was fine; someone's breathing hitched quietly though. I didn't have to think about who it was at all.

"Kiddo." Kyo's favorite nickname for his younger brother had become my own…it was something that I never really thought about but just did. The hitched breathing became slightly louder, "C'mere Kiddo." The young man moved slowly and for the third time wept himself out on my shoulder.

"Its b-been two y-y-ears now…" no one spoke and the squad looked down as they felt the pain for their comrade.

"I know, it's gonna be alright. I shouldn't have brought it up, it's my fault." He shook his head fervently as I spoke, forgiving my mistake instantly. He was too young for this kind of pain, but I knew better than to say that because I had been called a hypocrite for that line already.

"W-will it hurt li-like this forev-er?" his voice sounded younger too, but that's what pain does: it makes you older in mind but at the same time freezes you in a place of youth.

"I…I can't say what I'd like to because I still feel the pain as well." I rubbed gentle circles on his back as he tried to breath properly, humming a gentle song that I recall someone singing to me long, long ago when I had been too afraid to sleep during a thunderstorm,

"_**little child, be not afraid  
>though rain pounds harshly against the glass<br>like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger  
>I am here tonight…" <strong>__his breathing had come down to little hiccups that were gradually fading as well. I haven't even hummed a song in…well…I can't remember when I last hummed anything, but he needed something.__****_

_**"little child, be not afraid  
>though thunder explodes and lightning flash<br>illuminates your tear-stained face  
>I am here tonight<strong>_

_**and someday you'll know  
>that nature is so<br>the same rain that draws you near me  
>falls on rivers and land<br>on forests and sand  
>makes the beautiful world that you'll see<br>in the morning…" **__he pulled his head back and stared at me as though he had just registered what I was doing. The others were staring as well, but said nothing. Im sure they didn't even know that I could sing…but I had forgotten that fact myself so how could they have known?__****_

_**"little child, be not afraid  
>though storm clouds mask your beloved moon<br>and its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams  
>I am here tonight<strong>_

_**little child, be not afraid  
>though wind makes creatures of our trees<br>and their branches to hands, they're not real, understand  
>and I am here tonight<strong>_

_**and someday you'll know  
>that nature is so<br>the same rain that draws you near me  
>falls on rivers and land<br>on forests and sand  
>makes the beautiful world that you'll see<br>in the morning…"**__ I let Churchill sit next to me on the sofa as he listened closely to the words and felt the comfort that they had brought me when I was younger…memories that my mind had invented on its own went with the next words since I never really knew my mother but had seen pictures of her. I liked the way the song painted her image…_

_I pulled my good knee up and wrapped my arms around it, fully relaxed…__****_

_**"for you know, once even I was a  
>little child, and I was afraid<br>but a gentle someone always came  
>to dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears<br>and to give a kiss goodnight**_

_**well now I am grown  
>and these years have shown<br>that rain's a part of how life goes  
>but it's dark and it's late<br>so I'll hold you and wait  
>'til your frightened eyes do close<strong>_

_**and I hope that you'll know...**_

_**and someday you'll know  
>that nature is so<br>the same rain that draws you near me  
>falls on rivers and land<br>on forests and sand  
>makes the beautiful world that you'll see<br>in the morning**_

_**everything's fine in the morning  
>the rain'll be gone in the morning<br>but I'll still be here in the morning…" **__they were all completely silent until Churchill nudged my foot,_

_ "Keep going." I smiled and shook my head, _

_ "No…I really don't sing that much." Jack and Crow snorted,_

_ "Yus' we've only ever heard you sing once and that was when you were ten!" A nudge at my shoulder drew my attention back to Ghost,_

_ "One more?" his voice was quiet, I started to shake my head, "Please?" his tone was pleading and I sighed in resignation. A song that I heard on one of my visions with my father. (AN-not really! Just using my creative license!)_

"**May it be an evening star shines down upon you  
>May it be when darkness falls your heart will be true<br>You walk a lonely road  
>Oh how far you are from home…" <strong>there was no steadfast memory with this one but the vision was the night before the first battle I had ever fought.****

**Mornie utulie  
>Believe and you will find your way<br>Mornie utulie  
>A promise lives within you now<strong>

**May it be the shadow's call will fly away  
>May it be you journey on to light their day<br>When the night is overcome  
>You may rise to find the sun<strong>

**Mornie utulie  
>Believe and you will find your way<br>Mornie utulie  
>A promise lives within you now<br>A promise lives within you now…"** tears of my own were sliding down my cheeks as pictures of the reactor exploding and leaving such a mark on the earth…the fact that everything my parents did and all they ever dreamed of was, at that moment, on my shoulders. All the situations due to that one moment that my friends and I had dueled through…all the pain that could have been avoided…I wouldn't trade it for anything because so many good things have happened too.

I met so many new people and made new friends, we helped the Satellite and the rest of the world…and now…we all lead a life that is fulfilling to us that we wouldn't have had if nothing had happened.

No…I wouldn't trade it for anything.

**Author's Note****- HAHA! TEN PAGES! OORAH! …readers shake their heads and point to the song lyrics. OnO …those still count right? Readers shake heads again. POO! Oh well without the lyrics the chap's eight pages which is still an "OORAH!" moment. Readers shrug…WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PLEASE YOU! Hahaha I've had WAY too much sugar! LOVE Y'ALL!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note****- Here we go…WWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! By da way: DON'T QUESTION MY GENIUS! (Readers shake their heads and sigh) I WILL GET TO THE PART WHERE HE MESSES UP HIS LEG! Just waaaaaaiiiiiiiitttttttt –AH! Haha not yelling at y'all…just crazy! X3 **

Chapter 7- Welcome to Hell

The morning was bright when I woke; the sunlight spilling through the windows…it was early, seven at most. I dressed at a relaxed pace before heading down the stairs and into the naturally lit kitchen; no one was awake so I removed my jacket and began to prepare a large breakfast for everyone…then…we would continue.

XOXOXO

_The fever had set in completely near the end of the night; shaking with chills that had nothing to do with the cold and sweating that came from the illness: I was miserable. Then also combating the pain that tore through my side no matter how it was bandaged or how many times they gave me the painkiller, one dose was not enough and to increase the dosage could kill me, I was in constant agony._

_ "Captain? We will be stopping ahead sir." Churchill pointed to a certain point in front of us that suddenly blurred as a bout of dizziness overcame me,_

_ "Captain?"_

_ "Sir?" Twitch and Bulldog said at the same time as my legs gave out and a harsh coughing fit shook my shoulders and jostled the wound at my side; they slowly lowered me to the frozen ground as the fit continued, Churchill was frantically digging through his pack..._

XOXOXO

"At least I think it was you..?"

"It was me sir."

XOXOXO

…_when I tasted something metallic in my mouth, 'Blood' my mind supplied as the pain that raced up my side with every cough steadily increased until I was on my hands and knees and the hacking was splattering the snow with the life-giving fluid._

_The world was steadily fading with each failed attempt to breath and each excruciating jostle to my wound…'I can't breathe!' and I couldn't: drawing air was now impossible and the darkness that was hedging my vision quickly engulfed me._

_XOXOXO_

_ "His breathing has gotten better but he's still very pale." A warm hand checked the pulsating vein at my throat before they were satisfied and slight shuffling was audible all around me as the others moved back to the spots they had claimed; the area was dead quiet now, except for the classic hiss and snap of a fire, and there was no wind or even the slightest of breezes to give me some hint to the time of day.(AN-from the years I spent up north: it always was windier during the night...but that's just my experiences.) I tried opening my eyes with nothing but a slight flutter, my ears were fine, my throat was horribly raw, and I couldn't really move much. Done with my basic self-check, I then began to piece together certain increments of the "why?"_

_I'm fairly warm wherever I am, something soft brushed my cheek occasionally…at a rhythm actually, I'm probably wrapped in a blanket. The ground is slightly chilled but definitely not the wet snow: so we are inside something, a cave most likely; my pack is what is acting as my pillow right now and that about covers everything…except the strange twitching of my blanket!_

_Frustrated with not knowing what was causing the strange occurrence, I forced all my attention to opening my eyes and, to my utter shock, it worked. My eyes pulled back their dark curtains to reveal Ghost, sitting Indian style, with one foot, that had come to rest under the edge of the blanket, bouncing up and down rhythmically to whatever song he had running through his head right now thus explaining my blanket rubbing my cheek._

_ "Ghost, if you don't stop that twitch of yours I won't have a right cheek anymore." To my relief none of what I said came out slurred to terribly, but they were hoarse due to the fit I had before my "nap". Pale blue eyes snapped open and quickly jumped to mine,_

_ "YOU'RE AWAKE!" ouch, my ears were overly sensitive because I had just woken up and Ghost noticed my wince, "Sorry! Guys, Yus' is up!" more shuffling all around and my line of sight was blocked by my squads faces._

_ "Hey there Sleeping Beauty!"_

_ "We thought we were going to lose you!"_

_ "Bout time you woke up Laddie!" Bulldog, Brains, and Twitch were all talking simultaneously and I decided to respond to each one,_

_ "Bulldog: shut up." He smirked in his cocky way and shook his head, "Sorry, I'll try not to do that again Brains." He waved it off, he was quick to forgive seeing as I was still inert and in a blanket, "I thought you guys could handle yourselves for a few hours, so I let you keep carrying me the rest of the way." His eyes narrowed before he found himself laughing,_

_ "We knew you were probably conked in the head you bum-rag!" his heavy Irish accent was another welcome sound along with his contagious laughter, but that turned painful very quickly and I tried to stop,_

_ "Demented tormentors…making me laugh!" I finally managed to free my hand and gently massage the wound while the others sobered slowly; with the help of Ghost, I was able to sit against the wall around the fire and see for myself that we were indeed in a cave. They had discovered that the cave had two openings, fairly close to each other, but the second one was very well hidden and that had been dubbed the "emergency exit" which we were sitting closer to._

_It was a smaller opening and was filled with thick foliage of the plants that grew in this region, effectively forming a natural curtain that hid us from the eyes of the outside…'but also hides those outside from us.' I stopped thinking like that and asked the first question that popped into my head,_

_ "Where are we exactly and what day is it?" the others, who had been shuffling quietly in their seats thinking to themselves, stilled their movements and looked to Brains who carried the maps._

_ "From check point "A", we are about ten miles due south and from checkpoint "B"…" he traced downwards with his finger, "about three miles due north. You have been out for about a day and a half Sir. We will be able to reach the next checkpoint tomorrow and from there our mission will be done." I nodded but remained silent; something felt off to me…my every sense seemed to be intensely focused towards the more obvious opening of the cave._

_ "Are you alright Snips?" Bulldog muttered and I motioned to the opening, "what is it?"_

_ "I guess I'm just edgy…the warehouse we pulled you out of was frequently used…in fact almost daily. They have to have found the bodies by now and know that you have escaped…" my voice got softer towards the end and the others now cast nervous glances of their own to the entrance._

_ "We could go and rig up some alarm system and trap." Brains offered quietly, none of disagreed and I made as if to rise to my feet with them, but was quickly stopped by everyone. Raising an eyebrow in astonishment, I lowered myself back down and studied them intently,_

_ "You guys don't mean to make me stay do you?"_

_ "Just this once Snips, please listen to us and stay __**here**__." Ghost pointed towards the wall and glared half-heartedly as I tried to stare him down; sighing when he didn't waver or move from his spot standing over me and pointing. So I smirked and slowly slid my way to the right until he was pointing directly at me, _

_ "I will stay __**right here**__ just as you asked." He rolled his eyes as the others chuckled and they all gathered their packs to go build a trap, and as soon as they were gone I chuckled to myself at how lenient our group was with each other compared the usual "army standard". My eyes closed as the fire warmed me and the quiet lulled me back to sleep slowly,_

_ "__Они ушли один за__. (They have left one behind.)" the whisper reached my ears and I had to strain myself __**not**__ to tense; I was being watched and very closely by the sounds of it. I knew better then to call out right away because the enemy may have more waiting at the other side of the tunnel, but if I didn't send some sort of signal they would never know that we are all in danger._

_I slid my hand farthest from the door under the blanket, my friends had put it on me when they helped me sit, and slowly pulled the silenced Desert Eagle from my boot holster._

_ "Какой он? (Which one is he?)" Another voice and I was getting more and more nervous, my squad had their weapons but I couldn't wield anything bigger then my handgun at my state of being._

"_Ранил одного? Они оставили его на себя?__ (The injured one? They left him by himself?)_

_ " __Да,__тот, который__Adrik__выстрелил__два дня назад,__капитан__.__(Yes, the one that Adrik (dark) shot two days ago, the Captain.)" they knew my rank and now I knew who I had to thank for the lovely bullet hole in my side…slight rustling and the same voice spoke, "__См. его бледное лицо, у него есть лихорадка от раны.__Он очень слаб, и от боли, он не будет проблемой вообще.__(See his pale face; he has a fever from the wound. He is very weak and in pain, he won't be a challenge at all.)__"_

_"__Очень хорошо, когда мы можем взять его?__ (Very well, when can we grab him?)"_

"_Как только другие закончены.__ (As soon as the others are finished.)" The first voice spoke,_

_I had taken the silencer off of my gun and turned off the safety, I was going loud in order to warn my friends but soon another sound came, worse than the voices in the brush, the sounds of gunfire. I jumped to my feet, not caring if the enemy saw my gun, and the sudden motion was not greeted well; fire spread through my body and my head swam as little black and white dots played tag in front of my eyes. With a deep moan I sang back down to my knees and held my side in one hand and my head in the other; the sounds of gunfire dyed down quickly and the sounds of reloading guns echoed down the tunnel along with the sound of running._

_I prayed that they were my squad, but as quickly as I could blink two Russian soldiers leapt from the their hiding place and pulled me towards them, with my back to them; reacting slower then I would've liked, I lifted my guns and shot three times into the air; there was no way I could hit one of them with their grip on my shoulders so I had opted to use a distress signal that my squad was familiar with. The sounds of running had increased to the sound of five people sprinting towards my location; but it was not enough: the Russians wrenched the gun from my hands and placed a cloth over my mouth and nose before one came in front of me and punched me solidly in the stomach. _

_I could not stop myself from gasping reflexively and instantaneously the world went fuzzy and then dark…I knew no more._

_XOXOXO_

_ "__Он проснулся еще?__ (__Is he awake yet?)" A harsh voice interrupted the blessed darkness I had been drifting in and my mind was instantly alert because it was not English I was hearing, but Russian._

"Нет, сэр, мы подозреваем, лихорадка быть причиной. (_No sir, we suspect the fever to be the cause.)" a younger voice answered in a respectful tone…respect earned by fear it seemed, the memories were putting themselves together slowly and I was getting nervous, a heartbeat monitor nearby picked up the slight increase in tempo._

"_Затем дайте ему немного «лекарство».__ (__Then give him some "medicine".)" The older voice answered, 'Where am I?'_

"_Да, сэр.__ (Yes sir.)" A dial was turning and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end before someone threw a switch and the electricity surged through my body; screaming at the unexpected assault I remembered what had happened. The shock stopped suddenly and I was panting harshly to try and ease my shaking body when a gloved hand snapped my head upwards and the blurry image of an older man smirked back at me,_

"_Добро пожаловать в ад__"__Snips __'__, меня зовут __Adrik__._ _(Welcome to Hell, 'Snips', my name is Adrik.)" his dark eyes bore into mine, "__Мы сделаем Ваше__пребывание наиболее__образовательные._ _ (We will make your stay most educational.)"_

**Author's Note****- and the curtain falls…what do you think? XD MWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! (Creeper laughter heard from my creeper corner)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note****- (readers death glaring)…are you guys mad? I swear I didn't really WANT to leave you guys there! …ok so I DID want to leave you there… (Readers glare becomes darker) Don't kill me! (Runs from the room)**

CHARACTERS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW- Ghost=second in command – Churchill=pilot and medic – Bulldog=shot gunner – Brains=Intel – Twitch=machine gunner

Chapter 8- Needles and Faith

X two weeks of imprisonment X

Static. That was all to be heard in this hole they had stuck me in. My arms chained above my head my upper layer of clothing all gone or in rags at my feet allowing the cold air to freeze me and chill my blood every time someone upstairs would open a door. Sometimes, when they would go out, they would leave the windows open upstairs overnight and let me suffer through the night. Like right now. I could feel my whole body shaking but I didn't fight it: it was one thing that let me know that hypothermia hadn't set in yet.

And of _course_ they would always leave the radio on whenever they made sure to hit me in the head enough to give me a killer migraine…stupid radio. I groaned out loud and gripped the chains in my chafed, cut, and burnt hands before pulling myself up to give my lungs a wonderfully full breath of air and to exercise myself. I had decided that, since I would be hanging here getting beaten because of my refusal to betray my men, I would keep myself from getting weak with the lack of exercise, but lately, as more injuries accumulated, it was getting harder and harder to make myself move.

Lifting slowly to make sure I wasn't running on momentum alone, I pulled my bloody torso away from the cold floor that was stained with my blood that had partially dried from this morning and afternoon. I lowered myself slowly, forcing my arms to go _very_ slowly so I don't jolt my shoulders or even pull one out of the socket…not like that didn't happen anyway: the guards decided that one of the better ways to torture me was to pull certain joints out of place repeatedly. Yeah, _much_ better for me.

A harsh cough shook me as I prepared to raise myself again but I pushed through it and gathered another deep breath of air before a coughing fit took me and I dropped down harshly and groaned as my arms wrenched almost too far.

"They will send someone…" I pulled myself up again, "They will send someone…" I lowered myself slower than usual and another cough, much more painful this time, shook my chest, "They…they _will_ c-co-come!" Up and down, strain and relax, breathe and choke…this is pattern that continued until sunrise and with the rising of the sun came my tormentors.

XOXOXO (out of the story flashback thingy)

I could feel my hands shaking slightly and this wasn't even that involved in what had happened to me yet, clasping my hands together, I took a shaky breath and allowed my eyes to refocus on my surroundings once more (something that happens whenever I get into dark parts of my past: I am literally blind to the world around me) Everyone was absolutely silent and still, a few of them had widened their eyes but the others looked on in sympathy; I took another shaky breath and clenched my hands tighter together when the memory tried to pierce through the barriers of my mind again. I didn't dare to close my eyes; I needed some sort of light shining through my eyelids from the sun or the moon in order to keep myself awake from the haunting memories.

Yet another shaky breath and a shudder raced through my frame and I couldn't take the silence, the sitting, or the fighting off the memories anymore. I stood quickly and strode up the stairs and onto the roof where I _knew _the midday sun would great me and help me chase my past away.

X POV CHANGE 3rd person X

The silence Yusei had left behind had joined his soldiers, who were wringing their hands with worry and held their eyes to the floor, and his friends watching them carefully while also looking to the doorway that their close friend had disappeared into. They had never seen Yusei get so worked up about a memory other then the time they had made the mistake of asking him about his parents; Jack shuddered as he recalled that evening and how distant his brothers eyes had become, how silent he had fallen…the nightmares he had suffered that night.

"He…he gets like this whenever he's had to speak of the situations he was in." Churchill explained softly, "P.O.W. (prisoner of war) experiences always leave scars, I learned as much in my training to be a medic, but to see it on someone your close to is…worse…because you know them, you see how they are before and after."

"You said he was imprisoned for how long?" Aki's voice did not hint at any positive emotion,

"Three months Lassie. When we found the lad…it be an image that will never leave me mind."

They sat in silence for a short while once more before Jack spoke; his voice was uncharacteristically soft,

"Will he be alright out there by himself?"

"…yes…"Ghost whispered, "He just needs some time to sort out his thoughts."

X POV CHANGE Yusei X

My body was still shaking slightly but the warm noon sun was chasing them away slowly and the light was chasing away the darkness of the numerous parts of dark memories I had just rehashed. I sighed deeply and the ache began to dissipate making breathing a bit easier; walking, I should say 'staggering'; over to the wall that looked out over the landscape and leaning against said wall I hung my head. My shoulders sagging, my head hanging…I'm sure I gave the image of a completely defeated and shattered person; the breeze up here was nice, not a cold breeze but more on the warm side, which was perfect for me because too cold of a breeze would remind me of…NO! I couldn't think that way! It was bad enough that I had to tell of if right now to everyone, there is no need to torment myself if I don't have to.

"Yusei?" her soft voice didn't make me jump, not much could anymore, "Are you okay?" Aki's hand was very light on my shoulder and I nodded subtly, not opening my eyes and swallowing hard; the hand gripped my shoulder firmly now and I know she didn't buy it. "Please don't lie to me Yusei Fudo; we know each other better than that." I looked up now, her eyes resembling drops of gold were ablaze with irritation that I had tried to hide my discomfort so miserably and suddenly I had the urge to hold her tightly to my chest, to crush my lips against her's…I thought of how we had parted when we all went our separate ways...there was so much left unsaid on my part and I hope the same went for her.

"Is there any way we can help you?" she studied my face and tried again, "Is there any way _I _can help you?"

"Stay with me…keep me from drifting too far from you." She blinked but smiled at the double meaning to my words and I knew then that she felt the same way about me that I did for her and I felt my lips quirk ever so slightly. '_I don't need the sun or moon when I'm around her…she is my light, my watchful guardian of my heart, she is all I need._' I longed to say these words as we slowly made our way back to the others, who were waiting patiently and cautiously, but I held myself back, not the time or the place for such words: the story was far from over…

XOXOXO

"Говорят теперь и вам не придется больше страдать. (Speak now and you will not have to suffer anymore.)" Adrik stood before me today…what an honor, in his hands he held several small spines of a sort like a slightly thicker and much larger sewing needle; they were coated in a special venom from a native plant that burned and stung for hours even when the small devices were removed and also caused the entry point to bleed much more than normal. He was a fairly patient man but I knew that I was really a hard one for him to deal with seeing as everyone else he speaks to fears him so much; he was running low on the tines in his hand and I hoped they had no more in the box behind him.

"Перейти гнить. (Go rot.)" I managed to spit out between my desperate panting, I could taste copper on my tongue when he backhanded me harshly, a sure sign of blood in the mouth and also that I had angered him now,

"Дурак! Вы научитесь держать язык за зубами со мной! (Fool! You will learn to hold your tongue with me!)" He jammed the last seven of the spikes into my right shoulder before whipping around and screaming at the soldiers behind him, "Дайте мне еще один набор! (Give me another set!)"no one moved, they all knew as well as I did that another set on top of the two that were still in my flesh would be pushing my body too far, "сейчас!(NOW!)" The soldier handed him another twenty of the venomous tines and he ripped off the bandages that he had "mercifully" left on the bullet wound, given me two weeks ago, and stabbed ten of needles directly into the gaping hole with much more force than ever necessary to wrench a cry from anyone's throat and scream I did.

The pain was so horrible, the world spun in so many directions at once, colors blurred and voices melded into the din that suddenly surrounded me; I gasped as he plunged the last ten, five each, on either side of the wound and another cry escaped me. Gasping again, I tried to clutch at my chest or throat…I couldn't breathe! I couldn't breathe! Adrik stormed off…I think that blur was Adrik…and one of the soldiers waited before quickly coming to my side and removing the spikes, albeit without being gentle, and then jammed a needle with something in it into my neck. The world slowed down and all the noise faded into black as the pain and fire engulfed me completely…

X that night X

They had left the windows open upstairs again…the world was very cold one minute and excruciatingly hot the next and I knew a strong fever had set in through the numerous infections I had racing through my open wounds; the fact that I was _still_ bleeding hours after I had been tortured was not reassuring. Those needles do their job well and I knew that I could not do my usual ritual anymore because the first set had gone into my wrists, elbows, and shoulders.

My wound throbbed in time with my head and heart, and from the sticky warmth I felt there I assumed it was still sluggishly bleeding as well. Adrik is a very thorough and ingenious man…he made sure I wouldn't bleed out but would perfectly weak and hurting for tomorrow…that is…if I through _this_ chilling night…I held on to my faith in my team.

"They….will…come…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note****- …I'm back…no one wants to kill me right? Only Adrik right? Haha you guys (who review) make me soooooooo happy with how many reviews I'm getting for this story! THANK YOU!**

Chapter Nine- Choke

XOXOXO about five in the morning XOXOXO

He had come by very early this morning, first one to arrive actually, and came down to check on my vitals. I drifted back to this morning when he first came in, humming a Czechoslovakian tune, which tipped me off on his origin and language. He must have been putting on a show for the other soldiers last night because he was much gentler when he inspected my wounds; when he went to place a palm on my forehead to check my temperature he was shocked to see that I was aware of him and had pulled my head up to prove it, but he quickly recovered himself and firmly checked my temperature.

"You…carry no…ailment…but I be…careful." He struggled over his words and it took my sluggish brain to catch on to the fact that he was trying to speak English because he didn't know that I could understand him perfectly with his own language, poor boy.

"Ne stres sami, já jsem studoval jazyk spolu s mnoha dalšími. (Do not stress yourself; I have studied your language along with many others." My voice was hoarse and a strange feeling that had been entering my throat and lungs increased, but his voice lost some of its initial stress and he smiled slightly,

"To je dobré vědět, moje angličtina není nejlepší! Pochopil jste, co jsem říkal předtím? (That is good to know for my English is not the best! Did you understand what I was saying before?" he spoke much more confidently, as we all do when we speak with what we know.

"Ano, jsem pochopil, co jste chtěli říct, ale myslím, že by bylo nejlepší, kdybychom se držet to. (Yes I understood what you were trying to say but I think it would be best if we stick to this.)" He chuckled slightly but stopped when a painful cough shook me and a bout of dizziness swept through my system followed by a dry coughing fit. He leapt up and cranked the mechanism that held me of the ground until I was able to be on my hands and knees before grabbing a glass of water and rubbing my back until the coughs died down.

"Nepohybují a nemluví, ale dýchat velmi pomalu a zhluboka, pak může mít malé doušky vody. (Do not move and do not speak but breathe very slow and deep, then you may take small sips of the water.)" I nodded slightly and closed my eyes as I fought the urge to gasp for air and pant until my body had recovered from this new abuse and I do not know how long I lay there letting this complete stranger comfort me in a time of extreme weakness. Ever so slowly, as I ached with two weeks of torture, I raised myself until I was leaning back against the stone wall that was stained a deep mahogany with blood.

"Chtěli byste vyzkoušet a vypít trochu vody? (Would you like to try and drink a bit of water?") Again, a simple nod was all I managed but he saw it and carefully brought the cup to my lips; it took me a moment to remember that he sat in a chair near the back of the room while Adrik tortured me so he knew of the damage to my arms. The first sip was painful and wonderful at the same time as my raw throat and empty stomach complained but soon rejoiced with having even the slightest aid in this struggle.

"Proč jsi mi pomoci? (Why do you aid me?)" He looked puzzled but let me continue, "(I am an enemy of your army, your leader, your people…yet here you are letting me drink and comforting me, why?)" he smiled again and allowed me another slow drink, but there was a sadness in his gaze,

"Můj přítel, neměl jsem na výběr ze sem k této pustiny, ani jsem na výběr v tom, že část této armády nebo této příčiny. Jsem stejně jako vy, ale barvy nosím jsou různé, a tak jsme se postavili proti sobě. (My friend, I did not have a choice of coming here to this wasteland, nor did I have a choice in being part of this army or this cause. I am just like you but the colors I wear are different and so we are pitted against each other.)" I could feel my eyes widening as realization hit me full on,

"Ty byly sepsány? (You were drafted?)" I meant to yell but my voice wasn't in the best of conditions right now and so it came out a hoarse and painful whisper.

"Ano, jsem se učil být doktor, když Adrik přišel do mého města a zavraždil každého člověka, věřím, že mi ušetřil, protože věděl, že jsem mohl být do určité míry něj. (Yes, I was learning to be a doctor when Adrik came to my town and murdered everybody; I believe he spared me because he knew I could be of some use to him.)" I nodded my head in understanding for this was not uncommon in war; poor boy probably had a family that was killed in the massacre…I wouldn't ask of this though for I knew it was not something one would ever want to speak of. "Uvažujete o něčem? (You are thinking of something?)" I shook my head and instead came up with a truthful excuse,

"Mám potíže s dýcháním nyní. (I'm having trouble breathing now.)" His eyes deepened with worry and he felt my forehead once more before gently feeling my throat with both hands, he seemed to become worried, he placed one hand on my throat and the other on my chest,

"Snažte se dýchat zhluboka. (Try to breathe deeply.)" I attempted but was shocked when I couldn't fill my lungs to their normal limit and choked when I tried further; a few tremors shook me and he gripped my shoulders tightly and tipped chin back as the tremors came more and more often and a sharp pain gathered in my chest making me gasp and choke.

"I-nemůžu ... dýchat! (I-I can't….breathe!)" He grimaced and quickly gathered me into his arms with my chest on his left shoulder and with his right hand, palm-open, rhythmically pounded against the back of my lungs until a few harsh coughs and another stab of pain released something into my mouth that tasted awful. I spit the gung from my mouth and took a deep, shuddering breath as the young soldier sighed with relief and leaned me back against the wall and looked to the substance that lay on the ground now.

"Je to jed, že Adrik ti dal včera večer. Muselo to být částečně zpevněné v plicích po dumpingové tam krev, ale může způsobit žádnou škodu, pokud dovolíte, aby se vysune v průběhu času. (It is the toxin that Adrik gave you last night. It must have partially solidified in your lungs after being dumped there by the blood; it will cause no harm if you allow it to be ejected over time.)"

"Děkuji... (Thank you…)"

"Ne: Musím tě zpátky do řetězců nyní. (Don't: I have to put you back up in the chains now.)" He truly looked remorseful and sickened by what was happening,

"Je mi jedno ... dostanete do problémů ... pokud tomu tak není. (I don't care…you will get…in trouble if you don't.)"

"Neznamená, že o nic lepší v mých očích. (Doesn't make it any better in my eyes.)" He muttered as he cranked the mechanism and I was hauled back of the ground and into my former position.

XOXOXO five hours later XOXOXO

Adrik came very late today and was currently screaming in vulgar Russian at the young soldier, his name was Bozidar (Divine Gift) I believe, who had given me a shot that had counteracted the overdose of toxins that flooded my system last night, and the brave boy stood there, flinching every so often at the slashing words, but otherwise unregretful of what he had done. Adrik turned away and narrowed his eyes at me before his frustration caused him to run his fingers through his hair again, a nervous tick of his that I had picked up on recently; he strode over to me and roughly grabbed my chin to check my racing pulse as my heart still tried desperately to cleanse my system with the aid of whatever medication Bozidar had given me before shaking his head and sighing in admittance to the actions of the younger man.

"Вы не будете наказаны за ваши действия мальчика, но не идти против моего приказа снова. (You will not be punished for your actions boy, but do not go against my orders again.)" It was so strange how this man's mood seemed to fly in every direction and the slightest nudge would fling it in the other direction…and yet: he seemed so in control of himself. " (Unless this man is absolutely going to die do you ever do something like that again.)" Bozidar nodded and saluted hastily before his gaze caught mine and he seemed to almost smile before catching himself and focusing on his commander,

"Спасибо, сэр, я обещаю следить заказов правильно. (Thank you Sir; I promise to follow your orders properly.)" The young man spoke Russian but with a Czechoslovakian accent and he appeared to barely be eighteen, a bit younger then Ghost, but he already seemed to be hardened by death and loss. Adrik studied the young man with a hand coursing through his thick beard in thought before yelling at another soldier that sat at a large desk upstairs who hurriedly rushed down the steps to give his leader whatever it was that he had asked for. I was slightly surprised to see a manila folder with Bozidar's name written in red on the front: a profile with every bit of available, and some "unavailable", information on the soldier who had helped me.

My vision was getting blurry again, a sign of another blackout that was a side-effect of the overdose, and breathing was becoming difficult once more; I had thought by now, the fifth time, I would be expecting all the problems and they wouldn't bother me as much, but once again my body naturally reacted to the sudden drop in oxygen intake and began to shudder as I labored through each breath.

A very blurry Adrik looked in my direction, this was the second this had happened in front of him, and his dark brows came together,

"Что происходит с заключенным? (What is happening to the prisoner?)" I would've been surprised to hear actual concern in his voice if I had been aware enough to catch it, but I was too busy struggling through each breath as the air continually became thicker.

"Это побочный эффект сэр токсинов: его тело помогает выстрел я дал ему, но даже при такой помощи, очистительный процесс будет борьба. (It is a side-effect of the toxins sir: his body is aided by the shot I gave him but even with such assistance the cleansing process will be a struggle.)" I was not surprised that Bozidar had answered with a quiet whisper that held hushed tones of fear: fear of how his leader would react to this information. Adrik spun on his heel and grabbed that boy by his uniform,

"Что вы имеете в виду нечисть? (What do you mean scum?)" terror entered his eyes and he stammered a response that Adrik obviously didn't listen to, the Russian was angry beyond reason because he thought Bozidar had accused him…I had to do something before something bad happened to the young man, but there was nothing I could do. I was chained to the wall and suffering from a sever overdose that could send my vitals into…a…freefall. There was my answer and Bozidar's saving grace; I inhaled deeply and felt the fire race up my sides but nothing else happened; I inhaled again and another painful reaction and a slight cough. Once more and I was sent into an excruciating coughing fit and quickly tasted blood in my mouth, mixed with the toxins of course, as the I lost ability to breathe again. The last thing I saw was Adrik letting got of Bozidar and both of them rushing towards me…I smiled as the darkness took me: he was safe.

XOXOXO Six Weeks of Imprisonment XOXOXO

"Yusei, slyšíš mě? (Yusei, can you hear me?)" A soft voice pierced the fog of my mind and was dragging me back to the world of torture and pain; I inhaled deeply to try and bring myself back to awareness but ended up crying out when fire shot around my side and got worse as I panted in an attempt to ease the pain. "(Easy my friend, I'm sure your broken ribs are not making your breathing any easier.)" Well that explains the pain in breathing,

"Jak dlouho? (How long?") My throat was feeling awful,

"Omlouvám se, ale nerozumím. (I'm sorry but I do not understand.)"

"Jak dlouho jsem byl v bezvědomí? (How long was I unconscious?)" Clarification rippled across his face and he walked over to a box and removed some bandages before returning,

"Byla jsi pro zcela mimoděk při tomto okamžiku: asi dva dny. (You were unawares for quite a while this time: about two days.)" he muttered the last part quietly for he knew how much I detested being out for such amounts of time…or any amount of time for that matter whilst I was here as a P.O.W. "Vaši přátelé se pokusili znovu vyjednávat s Adrik za vaši svobodu. (Your friends have tried again to bargain with Adrik for your freedom.)" I sighed and hissed as the pain lanced up my sides again,

"Beru to tak, že Adrik jen ignoroval a nadával asi pět minut o tom, jak hloupě musí být za vyzkoušení? (I take it that Adrik just ignored them and cursed for about five minutes about how stupid they must be for trying?)" He chuckled a bit as he wrapped the bandages tightly about my ribs to hold them in place and prevent a bit of the pain.

"On šel trochu déle tentokrát ve skutečnosti. (He went a bit longer this time actually.) At my questioning look he went on, "Byl jsem žárlivý vás tentokrát, protože šel asi deset minut déle než obvykle. (I was jealous of you this time because he went about ten minutes longer than usual.)" I started to laugh but they turned into a deep painful coughs that tore my poor throat and it wasn't long until I felt the most horrible, torturous, agonizing pain rippled through my chest and sides; a shocked, pained gasp escaped me and I felt the blood running about my mouth and drip off my lips as I let my head fall to my chest. I knew what had happened, I had seen this before on others, one of my ribs had punctured my lung and now blood was flooding into the internal wound and up into my mouth.

"Yusei?" Bozidar's voice was frantic and I could feel myself being lowered back down to the floor as more coughs brought up more blood and pain, "Steady můj přítel! Zaměřte se na svůj hlas a my vám z toho, zkuste dýchat pomalu a mělké! (Steady my friend! Focus on my voice and we will get you out of this; try to breathe slow and shallow!)". The internal wound is incredibly fatal if not treated quickly and properly, I could choke and drown in my own blood; my only hope was in the hands of an enemy in the middle of their encampment. I was clinging to his voice…it was the only one I had in this hell-hole and he was the only one who could help me as my world was fading.

**Author's Note****-Don't you guys just HATE what I do to you? XD Some reviews could help push Yusei to freedom faster (hint hint)! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note****- I would like to thank everyone who reviewed last chap! I'm glad you all like this one! The medical scenes are fairly accurate: my mom's a nurse and my brother in medical school so they help that and Google is a boss with helping me! The nature scenes are also, I would say, decently accurate: I have never been to Russia or anywhere outside the U.S. other then Canada or France but Planet Earth and again Google are incredibly useful! SPONSOR! (If you watch Tobuscus) **_**P.S. about four weeks per month says Google and it was six weeks of imprisonment in the last chap; now we will continue where we left off and as I promised to those who reviewed: I will do a time skip here to push Yusei closer to freedom!)**_

Chapter 10-Incoming

The priso-No, Yusei was writhing on the ground before him, growing paler by the second with bloody sputum sliding out of his mouth with each desperate gasp for air; his eyes shut against the pain and sometimes a ragged moan would slide through his bloody mouth.

"Yusei?" the younger patted his cheek non too lightly and his piercing gaze met the other's…in that moment all the knowledge he had learned in my years before Adrik surged his mind: '_He is dying slowly, painfully because he is choking on his own blood; first I must sit him up and lean him on the injured side._' He slid his hands under Yusei's trembling shoulders and back before slowly lifting while trying to ignore the gasps and short cries from the dying man; when he reclined Yusei against the stone wall another cry was torn from his throat and more blood bubbled over his lips, '_I must find where the injury is!_'

Nimble and agile fingers delicately brushed Yusei's tender flesh that covered his ribs, wanting to go even more so carefully over the obvious bruises but knowing he could not afford to, he quickly found the rib that had broken and pierced the lung and leaned Yusei in that direction slowly, now his only problem was the removal. They did not have incredible medical resources at the base in general for they had never expected such incidents to happen; Bozidar hastened to the medical cabinet and immediately began to yank supplies he would need for the procedure, 'Alcohol, _bandages, cotton, needle and thread, a thin dagger, very small tongs…_' he rushed and brought these things back to where his patient and new friend lay still struggling to breathe through his own bodily fluids. The Czechoslovakian quickly went and grabbed supplies for a fire, a large bucket of water, and several herbs from his supply, before returning and setting to work.

He was frustrated at the time he had took for every second used on something else was another second closer to death for Yusei; to his great joy, the fire started quickly and he placed the water near enough to get warm but not hot enough to scald the skin and further the injuries. '_I need to restrain him now…but the only thing capable of doing that would be…._' He swallowed with difficulty. It had to be done.

He cranked the metal gears and allowed the heavy chains to lift Yusei's arms above his head and out the way, but made sure that they were not pulling and causing pain. Taking the dagger and rubbing it with an alcohol saturated clothe, he made sure that his hands were steady and then allowed the blade to pierce the skin slightly above the fatal shard of the bone that was meant to protect; blood instantly spurted from the increasing slice and Yusei cried out and tried to turn away but the chains and the pain stilled him as much as they encouraged his instinct's messages to try and flee. Bozidar brought the blade back up to where he began the opening and dug in again, quickly and skillfully decreasing the distance between him and the rib, and again Yusei gave voice to his pain and begged softly for his "tormentor" to stop.

The young doctor flinched at the soft pleas but forced his hands to do what he willed, which was start at the beginning and cut deeper and finally he knew he reached the source of the problem when Yusei stiffened grotesquely and let out a dreadful wail of pure and utter agony.

"Odpusť mi, příteli! (Forgive me my friend!)" He spoke through the lump that was growing in his throat, "Prosím, odpusť mi! (Please forgive me!)" His cries were lost on the screaming man as he kept he turned the blade to reveal the white bone puncturing the lung. Taking the tongs and soaking them with alcohol as well, he reached in and deftly gripped the bone with the tongs and carefully pulled it free with his patient screaming and hacking blood the whole time as his paling body shivered with pain.

With the shard of bone free, he prepared himself for the worst part: because there was a hole in the lung he couldn't stitch it with needle and thread or, rather, it wouldn't be the most efficient and effective procedure; no, the best thing to do would be to cauterize the wound with extreme heat. It would be horridly painful but, yet again, had to be done. Placing a small portion of the thin dagger directly into the flames while holding the flesh open with two fingers, he waited for the blade to glow white with heat before cautiously picking it up and, forcing no hesitation in his movements, pressed the blade against the hole in the lung until he knew the skin had melded together. The pain that surged through Yusei was like no other he had experienced at the hands of Adrik and he screamed himself raw as the Czechoslovakian pulled the blade away and examined the seared flesh; satisfied with his work and shaken with the sounds of screams ringing in his ears, Bozidar reassured himself that the worst was over.

The outside layers of skin could be pulled together and stitched neatly, which he proceeded to do, and Yusei lay limply coughing to rid his lungs of the remaining blood, the pain of the needle and thread was nothing to the cauterizing and seemed to barely stimulate his tormented nerves. He was trembling horribly when the young doctor cut the last thread and sat back with a heavy, shaky sigh,

"Jsi v pořádku Yusei? Prosím, řekni něco, co můj přítel! (Are you alright Yusei? Please say something my friend!)" He took several deep breathes as he battled the pain and the younger waited patiently but nervously because he _needed_ to know that his patient was alright,

"Y-Zachránila jsi mi život ..! (Y-You saved my life..!)" The raven haired man rasped before moaning softly at the fiery throbbing in his lung. "Dlužím ti můj život Božidar. (I owe you my life Bozidar.)

"Ne, já dostanu tě odtud. Nemohu uniknout z Adrik, ale můžete! Splatit tento dluh o jeden den zabít muže, který to udělal pro nás. (No, I'm going to get you out of here. I cannot escape from Adrik but you can! Repay this debt by one day killing the man who did this to us.)" As he spoke he lifted his shirt to reveal labeling tattoos and several brand markings that had been seared into his flesh. "Budu vám pomůže uniknout. (I'm going to help you escape.)"

XXX TIME SKIP (LAST DAY OF IMPRISONMENT) XXX …as promised

"He's being held in there?" Ghost nodded at Bulldog's shocked statement. From the outside, the bunker looked nothing more than a large boulder but the trick was the trap door hidden under one of the more overhanging pieces of the incredibly large stone, which prevented a buildup of snow, making it impossible to detect unless one was standing right above it…which this team of soldiers happened to be doing.

"This is the least used entry point of the whole network because of where it lets out," Ghost gestured around to the bowl like nature of the surrounding cliffs, "This is a deathtrap, an avalanche zone even, and it is _very_ difficult to maneuver a heli' down here but not impossible." He smirked as the thought of Churchill waiting behind the controls of his favorite bird at the top of the cliff came to mind; the best pilot at their disposal and one of the most difficult areas to control the large aircraft in together at last.

He gave the men around him a look-over and they returned with the "weapons ready" sign; he would be going with Twitch while Bulldog and Brains waited for them to bring Yusei back up and then we would escape as quickly as possible.

XPOV CHANGE: Ghost X

Bulldog and Brains pulled back a few hundred feet and Twitch nodded to me before I gripped the crude rope handle and slowly pulled it away from the entrance, nothing but darkness was seen but a warm blast of air gave us hope as we quickly descended into the stairwell and shut the door to prevent more cold air from entering the tunnels and alerting the enemy. We paused to allow our eyes to adjust to the lighting, or lack thereof, and our ears to adjust to the sudden silence, not that we were incredibly talkative above the ground but this was completely undisturbed silence: the kind that made your ears ring by the very thickness of it.

Twitch and I both checked our weapons once more before carefully applying a silencer to all of them and switching to our sidearm and knife; we didn't wear night-vision goggles because it would be easier to get by without them, none of the patrols around here wore them so if someone caught a quick glimpse of us then they wouldn't think too much of it.

Hugging the rough walls on either side of the small tunnel, we both peered both ways to make sure the first intersection was safe for us to continue, no guards approached and no sounds reached our ears except the occasional sound of someone yelling; we continued down the straight path for many more intersections as we slowly began to get an idea of the shape and layout of the tunnels we were wandering in. We both crouched down as I pulled out the piece of paper and pencil we were using to make a map of sorts; quickly sketching the lines that made up our progress, I snapped my head to the sound of someone running and what sounded like someone being dragged.

Suddenly appearing down the hallway were two figures: one sprinting while the other couldn't seem to keep his feet under him.

"Ghost look it's…"

**Author's Note****- OH SNAP! WHAT. AM. I. DOING TO YOU GUYS! …one thing: CLIFF HANGER!WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! DON'T YOU GUYS HATE ME? **


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note****-….hummmmmmm….no words today except….I LOVE ALL OF YOU SOOOO MUCH! LOVING ALL THE REVIEW! You spoil this author! I will try to get my chaps out a bit quicker for you guys!**

Chapter 11-Scape Goat

I drug him through the halls. There was no way I could escape with him and no way I could escape without him, so I continued on trying to ignore his harsh gasps and groans of pain along with the thought of all the damage that could be redone with our hasty escape. I could hear the soldiers after me, rushing down the dark halls with their automatic weapons ready to kill us both, and all I had was an almost empty handgun, yes, I had Yusei's weaponry with me but I was in no way capable of wielding his sniper rifle and the knife wouldn't be very useful against a group of soldiers with AK-74s or Galils, the only thing I could make good use of was his silenced Colt and hope that it had enough ammunition to get us out. I heard one of the soldiers branch off from the others and I knew their exact path, no one knew these halls like I do except for Adrik; I pulled up short with a hand over Yusei's mouth to stifle the gasp and groan of pain he gave before lowering him down and pulling the silenced gun in one hand and the knife in the other.

I jogged silently in a crouch to the corner where I knew the man was hiding and, steadying my pounding heart, whipped around the wall and drove the blade deep into the man's shoulder causing him to drop the gun as I raised mine to his forehead. I pulled the trigger, not daring to look into the eyes, I didn't want to know who I killed…I've had enough of the disease.

I returned to the pale man and pulled him up again, he didn't groan or gasp but instead flinched at the pain: either he was losing consciousness which would be a mercy or he was losing blood again and he was dying because of it; I didn't have time to check but I prayed it was the former. I paused and looked about us and my heart leapt with hope: we were nearing the back exit! The footsteps were fairly far behind us but I knew I should not waste time standing here in the heart of our enemy. My mind froze; yes…yes I did think _our_ enemy. The men here were never really someone I would want to call comrade and the man that brought me here was one that I wanted to kill if anything…they were my enemy as well and I was helping the first person in a long time that I could say I would die for.

The halls nearest to the exit became darker, trust me: it is possible…barely, and I almost didn't see them hiding there; two shadows among the shadows, their profiles just slightly darker than the inkiness of the hall. I froze as bolts of fear shook my shoulders and spine, and I couldn't help thinking that I had failed as the man I supported moaned again before coughing and it was my turn to flinch. Adrik had pounded and whipped him again before overdosing him with the tines; Yusei's time was minimized enough by the venom and I didn't know the extent of damage that hid in the darkness like an assassin that could be killing him the more I move him.

" (who is it you carry boy?)" The Russian was tinged with Irish accent but clear and understandable,

" (One who does not belong in these dark halls.)" The two shadows looked at each other for a moment,

" (Maybe you can help us then.)" I knew it was the second shadow who had spoken because the voice was different, softer and smoother. " (One of our friends has been captured and brought here to be tortured. Do you know of anyone like that? He calls himself Yusei.)" Could I trust them? The footsteps were still a ways off but drawing nearer,

" (Perhaps I know of him; what does he look like?)" I prayed they would describe the man with me for their aid would be the most wonderful thing in the world at the moment.

" (Not terribly tall, deep tanned skin, blue eyes, dark hair with golden streaks…ringing any bells yet?)" The Irish voice answered in an annoyed tone but I didn't notice. They were Yusei's friends…how on earth did they find the door and work their way here? How the Russian base in the first place? I paused '_Does it matter?_'

" (Then I need your help to get him out.)" The shadows jumped slightly,

" (The man you carry is…)"

" (Yusei, yes it is Yusei! We must hurry, the Russians are after us!)" I immediately being to drag Yusei past the shadows, who fell into step with me quickly; once in the same tone of darkness as the other two, I could barely make out the weapons they carried glinting in the tones of light that reflected of the walls in the tunnels. We moved as quickly as I dared to move with my cargo; his breathing had become shallow and labored while his body temperature was becoming exponentially higher: a fever must have set in.

The smooth travelling did not last long however as one or two of our pursuers began to shoot blindly down the hall and I stumbled as a bullet nicked my ear, Yusei gasped in agony as the misstep jolted his wounded body and the two shadows' heads snapped in the direction of the noise,

" (Is he injured very badly?)" The soft voice asked quickly, his concern and fear practically palpable,

" (He almost died yesterday when a shard of his rib punctured his lung…)" the shadows hissed with anger, " (I was able to patch him up that time, but Adrik took another round with him before we managed to escape.)" no hiss, no gasp, or exclamation of anger and displeasure…just silence.

" (You have turned against your own?)" The Irish voice questioned, suddenly wary and gentle; I almost nodded before I remembered that they couldn't see me as we moved towards the exit.

" (They were never mine to claim.)" There was a bitter tone that even I almost flinched at, but what I said was true: these men were not men I could call brothers. Another bullet whizzed by and clinked into the brick wall ahead of us before we turned past said wall; almost to freedom.

XxPOV CHANGE: YUSEIxX

Someone was pulling me along, each step sending fire, lightning, and ice through my body and I may have gasped but I'm not sure, but this treatment continued for some time. '_Don't they know I'm hurt? Why can't they just leave me alone?_' As if the one dragging me heard my thoughts, a hand covered my mouth as we held still; suddenly I was being lowered to the ground and the hand cut of any sound I might have made, moving to sit was horrible but once I held still yet again, I nearly shuddered with the pleasure this respite from some of the pain brought.

Footsteps receded a short distance from my position, a pause of silence, and then the unmistakable sound of a blade entering the flesh reached my ears…what was happening around me? I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn't react immediately, and when they did open it made no difference at all: the world around me was just as dark as when I had my eyes closed…eye closed…my left eye was held shut.

Pulling my arm up, and repressing the cry that would have come with moving it, I felt the dried blood in the shallow slash over my eye…what happened? I…I don't remember very well.

Blazing white pain lanced through me as I was pulled back onto my feet and darkness tugged at my consciousness, stealing my breath so no sound came from my throat. We walked on and on and on but there seemed to be no end to this nightmare; every step I took was something like smashing my own leg with a mallet, pain shooting up every time I used it which occurred every step. My back and ribs were on fire; my eyelid was throbbing in time with my jaw and right wrist, and the bullet wound, which was still unhealed, screamed bloody murder at me with lava seeping into it.

We stopped so suddenly I nearly wept with happiness, but instead I focused on the sudden voices I heard around me… '_Huh, that was Russian but it sounded Irish…weird…_' I searched my befuddled, cloudy mind for anything that could tie in the two pieces of information but stopped when I discovered how badly my head hurt as well.

And then, of course, we were walking again; the pulling got harder at one point and I whimpered at the pain so softly that only the one doing the dragging could hear and we slowed down. Walk….walk….walk…breathe….breathe….breathe… my train of thought did not consist of much anything else at the moment other than that fact that breathing was getting harder and I could feel the familiar tickle in my lungs and throat again. Something zipped by my head and for a split second I registered the scent of blood before whomever was holding me staggered and every wound, external and internal, made itself known to me immediately. I gasped at the strength of the agony that ran up and down my whole shaking form, the voices from earlier were heard and the faster pace I had hoped we had given up on returned to torment me. '_What is happening?_'

XxPOV CHANGE GHOSTxX

We were practically jogging now, the exit could barely be seen as slivers of outdoor light slipped through cracks in the wood; Yusei was whimpering, gasping, choking, groaning…and every sound ripped from his throat was like a stab to my own heart. This is my brother being hurt by an attempt to save him from more hurt and the only way to get him away was to cause this extra hurt…crazy how that worked out.

The enemies behind us seemed completely unaware of Twitch and I so far, a miracle, but they were gaining quickly and the young boy who carried Yusei could tell this as well; his voice marked him around my age and from the tones hidden in it: he was like me. Lost when someone he cared for died and left him in this world…the only difference was that he was all alone whereas Yusei had taken the full weight of my loss onto his shoulders as well to travel with me.

Whoever this man is, I will do whatever I can within my power to thank him for what he is doing. So lost in these thoughts I was that when he stopped short I was completely unprepared.

" (Take Yusei and give me another gun.)" Twitch took our friend for the soldier and I handed him an automatic handgun, " (now go; the exit is only a few more paces from here.)"

" (What about you?)" He pushed us both in the direction of the entrance we had come through,

" (I will buy you the time you need. Now go!)" I wanted to object to this but in his voice I heard the stubborn, unswayable notes of one who had accepted death already.

" (Thank you my friend; you will never be forgotten.)" Twitch and I turned away and ran the rest of the way to the hatch; as we were clambering out into the open area the sounds of gunfire could be heard from within.

XxPOV CHANGE YUSEIxX

Strange sounds were finally making sense again: I could hear Bozidar speaking and Ghost and Twitch answering back. I didn't really register what they were saying but I knew they were speaking of something serious, fatal even. With these thoughts in my mind, I did not expect to be slung over someone's shoulder and jolted at a horrible pace; it robbed my breath and no sound did I give until I felt frigid air on my face and could smell the forest that must be around us. It was too bright to open my eyes…eye immediately but it adjusted much faster than I expected and I was met with four horrified faces that belonged to my teammates. I was confused for a moment as they all stared at me before asking the only thing I could croak out,

"what?" none of them spoke for a moment and then Brains muttered something into a walky-talky on his shoulder; instantly I heard a helicopter approaching our area and before long I could see one of Churchill's choppers slowly making its way down to the snow.

"You look awful Laddy." Twitch very carefully put a hand on my semi-good shoulder and slowly walked around to see my back, "The medics are gonna 'ave their work cut' out for them when we get you back." The others mimicked the Irish man and made similar comments as we all waited to escape the area; I looked back to the hatch we had emerged from and wondered why there was only six of us up here at the moment…shouldn't there be seven.

My thoughts were interrupted when one of the others called my name and I turned to look at them, but something in the forest around us caught my eye: a dark shape, hunched over with some long extension pertruding…towards…me…

I barely acted in time when the bullet rang out and hurtled my way, diving towards my squad I felt the projectile enter my knee as I felt the bones and tendons snap and shatter to make room for the forceful intruder. The pain of the newest wound and all the older ones was too much and darkness lapped the edges of my mind, although I barely registered hands placing me into the air vehicle and returning shots being fired into the underbrush by Churchill as he cursed because he knew he wasn't hitting anything. Someone applied pressure to the open wound and that is when I could resist no longer and allowed myself to slip into oblivion.

**Author's Note****-well there we go! Yusei is free and now you all know HOW and WHEN he received the bullet wound that messed up his knee. We also know most of what occurred with Yusei's torture in the hidden base and that he HAS to be hiding more scars…how will the others react? And where is Adrik?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note****-Man. I SUCK! So sorry that I haven't updated in an extremely long time! Life got stupid…then my family spirited me away to a cold dark world where there was no internet! Stay calm: I'm okay! (haha remember when I thought this should be a one shot?)**

Chapter 12- Sacrifice

Xx Ghost's POV xX

_The darkness had hidden the extensive damage all over Yusei earlier, but with him out cold in the chopper and with all the light we needed, his injuries were very apparent. His back was mutilated with several stripes that were the obvious signs of a whipping, the bullet wound he had received so many months ago was open and oozing blood, around said wound were several inflamed red marks that looked like he had been stung by bees ten times their regular size and the stings had gotten severely infected, both of his shoulders were just two big bruises and very swollen meaning they had been dislocated several times, his ribs were all broken and I noticed the one that the man in the tunnels had mention had a piece removed via crude surgery, a slash started from his hairline then over his eye before dropping below his chin oozed blood, and then his knee…I didn't want to removed the covering we had hastily placed over it. Blood had soaked through the first four layers of bandages and now was threatening to do the same with the fifth,_

_ "Twitch." His head snapped to me, "Another bandage please." His eyes widened before quickly repeating my order to Brains, who held a whole roll. When I pressed the new bandage over the last Yusei cringed and moaned in his unconsciousness; if the pain penetrated that world he was in the intensity was worse than I thought. "Do we have anything we could give him?"_

_ "Morphine." Churchill called from the front and we were startled, we rarely carried morphine. '_Then again, we rarely get this hurt on our missions._' I thought, "I always keep a few doses in my machines; check the compartment to the left of the door." His tone was strained and we all knew why; Brains went to the compartment and opened it to reveal several ready needles filled with the clear liquid. He handed me one and I immediately found the vein in my captain's arm before plunging the sharp metal in and pushing down the plunger. _

_ "He's relaxing." Some tension leaked away as some of the pained lines in Yusei's face faded away, "How far to the nearest base?"_

_ "About twenty minutes." his tone was sharp with stress,_

_ "Can we go any faster?"Brains was measuring a pulse for me as I looked into the glazed eyes,_

_ "Twenty minutes at full speed. I'm already pushing it with dangerous this area is…how is he?"_

_ "Not good. The blood seems to be thinned by something and his heart is still racing when it should've calmed down by now, his breathing is too labored to just be from shock…a fever has set in as well and he is skin and bones, neither of these surprise me though…" I trailed off as I relayed all my observations to the medic, who had his eyes occupied on the flying,_

_ "What aren't you telling me?" I cursed Churchill's sixth sense halfheartedly,_

_ "It's the bullet wound…" I pulled the drenched bandages away to study the old wound,_

_ "What about it?" he had taken on another tone, he wasn't sure of what he was about to hear,_

_ "There are these strange…pricks…almost like stings from an insect, around the edge of it."_

_ "Describe them."_

_ "Small but swollen, noticeably hotter than the rest of his body which is raging with fever, purple in color, and each one has little purplish-black lines expanding from it…like capillaries."_

_ "…" I heard several switches being flipped,_

_ "Churchill?" he still didn't answer and a sudden deep toned whirring noise caused the three of us to gripped the handrails above us as Twitch sat and pulled Yusei's shoulders into a secure but gentle grip. The helicopter lurched forward in a sudden burst of speed as the ground below us sped by so quickly that all the colors blurred together,_

_ "Since when did these blasted birds get so fast?" Twitch yelled to our pilot who was pulling us higher to avoid any of the taller trees,_

_ "Since Yusei came in one day with engine blueprints he modified from the ones he made for his duel runner."_

_XOXOXOXO_

_The room was dimmed, as he had developed a sensitivity to light, and I sat right next to the bed silently praying that I may not lose the only brother I had left; another tear rolled down my cheek as the heart beat monitor provided me with proof that the man who lay in the bed stilled lived. My stomach tried growling at me again but I did not move to fill it as the others pleaded me to…I knew I should move…I really should, but what if he woke up? What if he woke up while we were all gone? He would be alone and in pain, not to mention confused and weak, as we greedily filled our stomachs easily whilst he had fluids and blended foods forced down his throat._

_I had flat-out refused to let them use a feeding pump though. I knew he hated pumps and wires in him, not needles so much, but the bigger tubes to either draw blood or give medicines in large amounts, like the one in his arm currently, bothered him greatly and a __**feeding tube**__? I remember once: he had taken a severe hit to the head and had almost been knocked into a coma from the shock, he was lucky not to but his jaw had two hairline fractures now. The only way he could eat was from a nasogastric feeding tube, the kind that goes in through the nose and down the esophagus into the stomach; when he awoke again, confused to why the doctors had put him under, only to find a tube down his throat he went pale and very nearly became ill. Instead, he slipped into a deathly silence with a far off look in his eyes until his jaw had healed to the point where he could open his mouth enough to drink soup which was about a month._

_None of us on the team (A.N.-POLL UP FOR NAME PLEASE VOTE!) wanted to see him like that again; it was like he was completely lost to us in some memory so deep that he wouldn't feel the tube in his throat or notice when the doctors would move him to the bathroom…his mind was sparing him the embarrassment as well as the irritation and disgust he would surely go through. No, we wouldn't subject him to that again…never again._

_ "Yusei…please don't give in." I whispered hoarsely to the pale man I followed as willingly as the others, knowing the toxin he was given was still flowing in his veins and would remain that way until Brains could crack the molecular code of the venom and then create an antidote to counter it. I took a pallid chilled hand in my own and counted the pulse I heard on the monitor with my fingertips; it jumped suddenly and began to drop to a slower rate before skyrocketing again, then again dropping as a low moan broke the silence,_

_ "Yusei?" I whispered as his eyelashes fluttered when he fought for his consciousness; I watched hopefully until I heard the door click open to reveal the rest of the team with a steaming plate of food, "He's trying to wake up!" I spoke as loud as I could with my torn voice and they all pressed in closer instantly. We all held our breath until deep sapphire eyes glazed with fever, malnutrition, and poison looked to each of us,_

_ "What…what happened?" his slurred words never sounded so fantastic to all over us as we all relearned how to breathe, "Guys…" his eyes widened suddenly, "How did they feed me?" his breathing accelerated and his voice had gained volume, but we couldn't answer immediately as this was one of the few times we had ever seen him look so scared._

_ "Laddie! Laddie look to me face now!" Twitch had snapped out of it before us and held our Captain's shoulders down before demanding his attention, when the blue eyes connected to his face he put one of his big hands over the forehead of the ailing man, "There be no tube in ya', so be takin' some deeper breaths…that's it laddie, breathe nice and slow now. We didn't let 'em put any tubin' down yer throat so just calm down…" the heart beat monitor slowed until it was back to its semi-normal state and his breathing was no longer on the verge of hyperventilation; Twitch had that fatherly power about him that we all relied on and were grateful for._

_ "Feeling better Yus'?" Bulldog's deep voice was so quiet as Yusei slowly opened his eyes,_

_ "Yah…yah I'm fine…" He looked around for a minute and a worried look crossed his face, "W-where is Bozidar?_

**Author's Note****- DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN! Please vote in the poll on my profile! PLEASE! Missed you all!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A.N.**** - Dear 'BAD', …this is FANFICTION….it is called thus for a reason. If I want Yusei to become a cotton candy pink sea monster that sings phantom of the opera, I **_**can**_** MAKE. THAT. HAPPEN. So don't get all pissy if I make him a soldier instead of a scientist.**

Chapter 13- Team Ammon (Hidden)

The team didn't know what to say at first as their friend and leader looked at them with such cautious emotions in his eyes.

"Yus'…he…he stayed to-to buy us the time we needed to get away." Ghost answered quietly and cringed internally as the man lying on the bed seemed to wilt and his eyes shattered; the expression of shock didn't last long before it was replaced with one of great sadness and loss. He had gotten paler, which we thought was impossible,

"No…no…no, no, NO!" He sat up now before we could hold him down, "HE WAS TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"

"Oi Laddie, he didn't want us to stay behind with him," Twitch gripped his shoulders and tried to push him down,

"He…he can't be dead! HE CAN'T BE! He wasn't meant to fight! He wasn't made for war!" his eyes held so much anger we all flinched, but Twitch shoved him down into the pillows,

"CALM YOURSELF CAPTAIN!" Yusei cringed at the booming voice and the older man lowered it once Yusei's body betrayed him and went limp, "'E…he knew yah would 'ave died if we did. He gave his life for yah…for all'o'us." They saw his throat jump and constrict as he opened his mouth to speak, no sound came the first time but as tears began to flow at an increasing rate he gave up and silently wept for another loss in his life. The others remained motionless, they had not known what had happened between their captain and Czechoslovakian man but knew better than to ask now; minutes passed before Yusei tried once more to speak to them whilst the tears did not stop creating icy trails.

"Twice." The others didn't speak, "He…saved my life twice now…" the raven haired sniper shuddered and coughed before groaning at the pain the slight movements had caused, "I will…repay him…honor his sacrifice somehow…" he coughed a few more times before he lay still again on the mattress.

No one spoke immediately. A young man had saved their Captain, one of the supposed enemy forces, from the clutches of death. Not just once but twice in the period of three months…

"The…the first time that the boy-o saved Yusei was from a bleedin' lung." Twitch spoke with an unbelievably soft whisper, " 'E…'e told me that Yus' almost died then and there…in that wasteland."

"Bozidar…we must give him a memorial of some sort."

"How?" Brains spoke up for the first time, "There is no way we could get the…_his_ body to bury it."

"How 'bout a service?" Bulldog's deep tone stopped the others, "We could have a moment of silence too."

"That could work! We could spread his story among the others when we get back too! Y'know like an official memorial for one of our _own_." Ghost whispered back feverishly,

"Would we be allowed?" Churchill muttered,

"I don't see why not? He was dragged into that place and forced to serve the enemy! If anything he was one of us that we let slip through our fingers! We. Will. Have. A. Service."

We'll need to find a description if we-"

XOXOXO Back to the Present XOXOXO

"STOP!" Churchill had taken over the story since Yusei had fallen back into unconsciousness and had no idea that they had planned all this. Everyone stared at him, "Please stop. I-I can't deal with those memories right now; the only thing I want to do is let it fade a bit.

A soft hand came to rest on his shoulder and he looked to his left before becoming entranced in the honey-gold eyes of Aki, he could see her reading all the pain he was feeling, both physical and mental. Her right hand on his shoulder didn't move and neither did her gaze, but her left hand he tracked as it slowly came up to his cheek and rested there; her thumb gently brushed the trail of a tear that had fallen earlier and had gone unnoticed until now.

"Why do you always have to suffer?" her tone matched how he felt inside, broken…hurting, she wrapped her arms about him and buried her face into his shoulder as the first sobs began to shake her petite frame, "Why is always you who has to lose people you care about?" her cry was muffled by his shoulder and his jacket; he enveloped her in a tight hug,

"It happens to everyone Aki," he pulled away and began to head to the roof once more, "Thank you…for what you all did for Bo- ," he choked, "for what you did for _him_."

XOXOXO Yusei POV XOXOXO

The setting sun over the city, reflected off the streets and buildings in a blinding scene of oranges, reds, and pinks; the wind caused my bangs to brush my forehead as I lifted my shirt and touched the scar over my ribs, feeling the sudden depression there where the bone had yet to repair itself.

I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, throwing my senses into how it felt to breathe easily like this, I repeated the action even more slowly: filling my lungs to the max and letting the air out,

"I'm so sorry Bozidar, that I still breathe while you lay abandoned and alone… Je mi to moc líto, můj přítel.(I'm so sorry my friend.)" he put his whole hand over the scar before looking up with new determination,

"Adrik ... вы будете платить за это ... Я клянусь, что это. (Adrik…you will pay for this…I swear it.)" the sun glinted off his deep blue eyes and in them the pain and remorse at the loss of one innocent and young boy morphed into a vow for revenge…one to be fulfilled in blood.

**A.N.****- the end of the memories now…should I continue? **

**A.N.2****- Okay…that **_**HURT**_**. Found this story that was pretty weird called ****Yuugiou Duel Monsters MCGT****:basically the author just RIPS into peoples' stories with "commentary" now sometimes this is pretty funny but this was just kinda insulting to the stories they listed (sorry if anyone who reads this likes this story) but what really hurt was that, in the reviews, someone offered up THIS story and said **"Also, here's a fic that would be amusing to tear apart: Aftermath Chapter 1 by kyuubecky. xP" **OUCH! ****Normally I can deal with this kind of stuff, but…this just really struck me down…**


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